Editing Iceberg (section)

== Oceanography and ecology ==
[[File:Scenic_view_of_Greenland_icebergs_in_Baffin_Bay_in_Disko_Bay_07.jpg|thumb|Icebergs in [[Disko Bay]]]]The freshwater injected into the ocean by melting icebergs can change the density of the seawater in the vicinity of the iceberg.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last1=Yankovsky|first1=Alexander E.|last2=Yashayaev|first2=Igor|date=September 2014|title=Surface buoyant plumes from melting icebergs in the Labrador Sea|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0967063714000879|journal=Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers|language=en|volume=91|pages=1–9|doi=10.1016/j.dsr.2014.05.014|bibcode=2014DSRI...91....1Y}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last1=Stephenson|first1=Gordon R.|last2=Sprintall|first2=Janet|last3=Gille|first3=Sarah T.|last4=Vernet|first4=Maria|last5=Helly|first5=John J.|last6=Kaufmann|first6=Ronald S.|date=June 2011|title=Subsurface melting of a free-floating Antarctic iceberg|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0967064510003656|journal=Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography|language=en|volume=58|issue=11–12|pages=1336–1345|doi=10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.11.009|bibcode=2011DSRII..58.1336S}}</ref> Fresh melt water released at depth is lighter, and therefore more buoyant, than the surrounding seawater causing it to rise towards the surface.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> Icebergs can also act as floating [[Breakwater (structure)|breakwaters]], impacting ocean waves.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ardhuin|first1=Fabrice|last2=Tournadre|first2=Jean|last3=Queffeulou|first3=Pierre|last4=Girard-Ardhuin|first4=Fanny|last5=Collard|first5=Fabrice|date=January 2011|title=Observation and parameterization of small icebergs: Drifting breakwaters in the southern ocean|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S146350031100062X|journal=Ocean Modelling|language=en|volume=39|issue=3–4|pages=405–410|doi=10.1016/j.ocemod.2011.03.004|bibcode=2011OcMod..39..405A}}</ref>

Icebergs contain variable concentrations of nutrients and minerals that are released into the ocean during melting.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last1=Duprat|first1=Luis P. A. M.|last2=Bigg|first2=Grant R.|last3=Wilton|first3=David J.|date=March 2016|title=Enhanced Southern Ocean marine productivity due to fertilization by giant icebergs|url=http://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo2633|journal=Nature Geoscience|language=en|volume=9|issue=3|pages=219–221|doi=10.1038/ngeo2633|bibcode=2016NatGe...9..219D|issn=1752-0894}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite journal|last1=Hopwood|first1=Mark J.|last2=Carroll|first2=Dustin|last3=Höfer|first3=Juan|last4=Achterberg|first4=Eric P.|last5=Meire|first5=Lorenz|last6=Le Moigne|first6=Frédéric A. C.|last7=Bach|first7=Lennart T.|last8=Eich|first8=Charlotte|last9=Sutherland|first9=David A.|last10=González|first10=Humberto E.|date=December 2019|title=Highly variable iron content modulates iceberg-ocean fertilisation and potential carbon export|journal=Nature Communications|language=en|volume=10|issue=1|pages=5261|doi=10.1038/s41467-019-13231-0|issn=2041-1723|pmc=6868171|pmid=31748607|bibcode=2019NatCo..10.5261H}}</ref> Iceberg-derived nutrients, particularly the iron contained in sediments, can fuel blooms of phytoplankton.<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Wu|first1=Shuang-Ye|last2=Hou|first2=Shugui|date=2017-03-17|title=Impact of icebergs on net primary productivity in the Southern Ocean|url=https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/11/707/2017/|journal=The Cryosphere|language=en|volume=11|issue=2|pages=707–722|doi=10.5194/tc-11-707-2017|bibcode=2017TCry...11..707W|issn=1994-0424|doi-access=free}}</ref> Samples collected from icebergs in Antarctica, Patagonia, Greenland, Svalbard, and Iceland, however, show that iron concentrations vary significantly,<ref name=":7" /> complicating efforts to generalize the impacts of icebergs on marine ecosystems.