Icebergs are temporary jewels of the sea. Each year, thousands of icebergs break away from Greenland glaciers and make their way to the waters off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. These huge icebergs are composed of compacted snow that fell in Greenland some 10 to 15 thousand years ago. Sculpted by wind and waves, they come in all shapes and sizes: no two are alike, and none stay around for very long. May through to early July are the best months to see icebergs.
Though they take thousands of years to form, most bergs melt within two months of reaching Newfoundland's coast. A berg can measure many hundred feet above and below water, and weigh many thousands of tons, but these huge masses of ice are very unstable: A fracture can give way with no warning, and within seconds the berg can founder, breaking apart or rolling over with an earsplitting crack. No boater should ever get to close. These majestic monsters are best viewed from a safe distance.
Melted iceberg ice is believed to be the purest water in the world, having been frozen long before pollution ruled the earth. It is so dense that the seawater a berg bathes in each day can't penetrate it.
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