Bergy Seltzer

Bergy seltzer is something you have heard but perhaps never heard about. One cynic I know has said that her life could have been fully and happily lived without ever learning about bergy seltzer. For those who do not feel that way, the whole story is laid out here.

Bergy seltzer is a continuous crackling, frying sound that has been heard by submariners and other sailors when close to melting icebergs. Another name for bergy seltzer is ice sizzle, also descriptive of the sound which is attributed to the breaking out of air bubbles from the melting ice.

Among the first to gain insight into bergy seltzer was Peter Scholander, a well-known northern scientist. Twenty years ago, he co-authored an article that described the pressures inside air bubbles locked into glacier ice. Measurements showed that the pressure could range from about one atmosphere (14 lbs. per square inch) to more than 20 atmospheres.

Glacier ice and some other types of ice can contain huge numbers of air bubbles, which give the ice a cloudy appearance. It seems possible that part of the noise called bergy seltzer can come from the bubbles breaking away the ice when melting causes each bubble to come in close contact with the ice surface. However, much of the noise is just the escape of the air under high pressure as the bubble breaks out. Anyhow, placement of hydrophores near melting icebergs enabled U.S. Navy scientists to conclude that bergy seltzer could be detected with sonar perhaps 100 miles away.

Want to hear bergy seltzer but don't have a sonar or an iceberg handy? All that is needed is a glass of water and an ice cube. Drop the ice cube in the water and put your ear down near the top of the glass. The steady fizzle you hear is bergy seltzer.