Iceberg that sank Titanic was 100,000 years old, scientists believe

Scientists believe that the iceberg that sank Titanic on its maiden voyage may have originated in southwest Greenland in snow that fell more than 100,000 years ago.

The conclusion came based on the observations obtained from 1912 - the year of the Titanic’s sinking in the Atlantic Ocean - and modern data on ocean currents and winds.

Grant Bigg from Sheffield University in the UK used a computer model to calculate the icebergs’ paths in any given year. “We take what we know about ocean currents, then add in meteorological readings for that year to calculate the prevailing winds,” he said.

The giant ship sank on April 14,1912, claiming 1,517 lives. The iceberg then was approximately 400ft long and reached 100ft above the surface of the ocean, giving it an estimated size of 1.5m tonnes. But it is believed that the iceberg had been melting into the sea for many months previously.

“The presence of extensive ice was widely reported prior to and following the collision,” Biggs writes in his new book titled Icebergs.

Going according to one theory, the iceberg which brought down the Titanic broke away from a glacier in 1908, when a winter with warmer temperatures caused increased melting. While the other explanations include high tides, sunspots and a supermoon in 1912 that could have dislodged icebergs.

The picture was taken by the chief steward of the Prinz Adalbert on the morning after the Titanic disaster

According to Biggs’ estimates, it probably started out substantially larger – around 1,700ft long – and weighing in at an incredible 75m tones.