Iceberg tricks

[Art lover]

Why do icebergs look blue when snow is white?

[Greenfingers]

Light particles, photons, come in a rainbow of colours. The photons on the violet end of the colour spectrum travel in shorter wavelengths, while the redder ones travel in longer ones. Snow is composed mainly of air. The air scatters the photons that hit it, no one wavelength is preferentially absorbed or reflected, so snow is essentially the colour of the white sunlight reflecting off it. Icebergs, on the other hand, are made mainly from ice. When light hits an iceberg it is absorbed. Blue wavelengths travel the farthest before they're finally absorbed. And until they're absorbed, they scatter and reflect back, which is why icebergs appear blue.

[boaby]

The colour of an iceberg depends on the amount of salt that is aborbed in the ice. Ice at the bottom of icebergs is clear as the weight of the ice squeezes the minerals (salt) out. I didn't think it had anything to do with light refraction.