These Incredible Antarctica Striped Icebergs Look Like Candy

They might look like candy, but the stripes are actually salty.

When large blocks of ice break off a glacier or an ice shelf and float freely in open water, they form icebergs. This ice is made up of pure fresh water that has accumulated over millennia from snow falling on the Antarctic continent. The floating ice chunks then interact with the salty seawater beneath them.

Striped icebergs form when strong oceanic currents draw seawater deep beneath ice shelves. The water cools and freezes at the ice shelf’s base. Because this new ice is made of seawater that contains organic matter and minerals, it has a variety of colors and textures. The different colored layers can form amazing patterns as the wind and waves break the bergs into smaller pieces.

Striped icebergs in a variety of colors, including brown, black, yellow, and blue, have been spotted in Antarctica’s freezing waters, as evidenced by these images. They are absolutely breathtaking.