Another huge iceberg departs Antarctica
A new, massive iceberg has broken off from Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf, according to polar-orbiting satellite imagery taken Friday, May 10, at the Antarctica Meteorological Research Center .
Though the new iceberg is partially obscured by clouds on the image, AMRC researchers suspect it is about 125 miles long, compared to the 47-mile long C-18 iceberg identified on May 5.
The calving, or ice shelf breakage, comes as no surprise to AMRC researchers. Charles Stearns, principal investigator for the AMRC, explains that thick layers of ice gradually slide down from the high Antarctic plateau to the lower ice shelves, where they break off into icebergs. Stearns adds that the ice that formed this latest iceberg had been moving for 30 years.
AMRC researchers suspect that the C-18 iceberg identified earlier might have enlarged a crack already in the Ross Ice Shelf. With this latest calving, the ice shelf is now about the size it was in 1911, when Robert Scott’s team first mapped it.
Linda Keller, the AMRC researcher who first noticed the newest iceberg, has notified the National Ice Center. After confirming her results, the center will most likely name this latest calving event.
Though calving events have been occurring since March 2000, this one involving such a massive breakage may create new concerns in the shipping industry using southern oceans.
The AMRC, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, is the only Antarctic site that provides real-time satellite imagery. The center is housed at the Space Science and Engineering Center at UW–Madison.
Tags: research