Team Mowbray's Amazing Iceberg Photos

'Commitment in an ice field - sails Antarctica every year' .

Tony Mowbray asks 'Have you ever said to yourself, when idly flicking through a coffee table book or watching a documentary, 'One day I would really like to go see Antarctica'?'

He goes on to promote his Team Mowbray Expeditionsto the Antarctic, and there'll be eight of them this coming Antarctic summer, all carried out on the yacht Commitment.

However, just in case you never get the chance to go there, Tony has sent us some staggeringly beautiful and amazing shots of the kind of icebergs you may see during a visit, and we share tham with you here.

Tony explains the photos following:

Icebergs in the Antarctic area sometimes have stripes, formed by layers of snow that react to different conditions.

Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet fills up with meltwater and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form.

When an iceberg falls into the sea, a layer of salty seawater can freeze to the underside. If this is rich in algae, it can form a green stripe.

Brown, black and yellow lines are caused by sediment, picked up when the ice sheet grinds downhill towards the sea.

Classic Striped iceberg - .. .

Single dramatic stripe - .. .

Not all stripes are horizontal - .. .

Close-up of stripes - .. .

In the following photos, Tony explains: The water freezes the instant the wave breaks through the ice. That's what it is like in Antarctica where it is the coldest weather in decades. Water freezes the instant it comes in contact with the air. The temperature of the water is already some degrees below freezing.