%0 Journal Article %A Kirkham, James D. %A Rosser, Nick J. %A Wainwright, John %A Vann Jones, Emma C. %A Dunning, Stuart A. %A Lane, Victoria S. %A Hawthorn, David E. %A Strzelecki, Mateusz C. %A SzczuciƄski, Witold %D 2018 %T Drift-dependent changes in iceberg size-frequency distributions %U https://figshare.le.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Drift-dependent_changes_in_iceberg_size-frequency_distributions/10216817 %2 https://figshare.le.ac.uk/ndownloader/files/18424442 %K Cryospheric science %K Physical oceanography %K Seismology %X Although the size-frequency distributions of icebergs can provide insight into how they disintegrate, our understanding of this process is incomplete. Fundamentally, there is a discrepancy between iceberg power-law size-frequency distributions observed at glacial calving fronts and lognormal size-frequency distributions observed globally within open waters that remains unexplained. Here we use passive seismic monitoring to examine mechanisms of iceberg disintegration as a function of drift. Our results indicate that the shift in the size-frequency distribution of iceberg sizes observed is a product of fracture-driven iceberg disintegration and dimensional reductions through melting. We suggest that changes in the characteristic size-frequency scaling of icebergs can be explained by the emergence of a dominant set of driving processes of iceberg degradation towards the open ocean. Consequently, the size-frequency distribution required to model iceberg distributions accurately must vary according to distance from the calving front. %I University of Leicester