Kimberly Gould, age 12, of Enid, Okla., for her question:

WHAT HAPPENS TO ICEBERGS?

Some of the massive icebergs of Antarctica have been drifting around for more than 10,000 years. Gradually the gales and pounding waves erode their lofty walls, carving fantastic shapes. Some are trapped in South Polar seas by ice floes, others by the cold current that sweeps eternally around Antarctica. But eventually the freshwater ice is melted by the salty sea.

In the North Polar region, the melting process is much faster. The icebergs that break off from the glaciers are much smaller, and most of them are swept southward to melt in warmer seas. All icebergs finally melt into the sea, but the melting process is much slower in the Southern Hemisphere.