Iceberg melt: chapter 2

Water Convection

This is the natural convection of buoyant melt water which is less dense than sea water moving up an iceberg's sides. When ice melts in sea water, the melting process produces both cooling and dilution which have opposite effects on the sea water density. Cooling produces more dense water while dilution produces less dense water. The saline effect (dilution) dominates above the lowest meter or so of the vertical ice wall.