8/16/2023 0 Comments Antarctica iceberg size![]() ![]() Calving is an entirely natural process wherever ice flowing on the land meets the ocean or large lakes.Įach year, 10,000 to 15,000 icebergs are calved worldwide, most of them on the small side, according to Canadian Geographic. The largest iceberg recorded calved off Antarctica in 2000: That one was about as big as the island of Jamaica.Īs for what's going to happen to this iceberg, Francis said that “over the coming weeks or months, the iceberg may move away or it could run aground and remain close to Brunt Ice Shelf."Īs huge as it is, this iceberg is still dwarfed by the chunk of ice that broke off Antarctica’s Larsen C Ice Shelf in 2017, which recently threatened to collide with South Georgia Island and is among the largest recorded at 2,240 square miles, Gizmodo said. There is no evidence that climate change played a significant role in this event, the BAS said. The glaciological structure of this vast floating ice shelf is complex, the British Antarctic Survey said, and the impact of calving events is unpredictable. Spotted in recent images captured by the. Since the ice is already floating, the newly created iceberg won’t contribute to rising sea levels. The iceberg, dubbed A-76, measures around 4320 sq km in size currently making it the largest berg in the world. 8 References Largest iceberg (current) Fahy, Claire (). 6 By day 148, 7 the iceberg consisted of three fragments, A-76a, A-76b, and A-76c. The new iceberg was first spotted by Keith Makinson, a polar oceanographer with the British Antarctic Survey in May 2021. Ice shelves are floating sheets connected to a landmass, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. The size at calving was an estimated 4,320 km 2 (1,670 sq mi). Our job now is to keep a close eye on the situation and assess any potential impact of the present calving on the remaining ice shelf." "Four years ago we moved Halley Research Station inland to ensure that it would not be carried away when an iceberg eventually formed. "This is a dynamic situation," Simon Garrod, director of operations at the British Antarctic Survey, said in a statement. The 12-person team working at the station left in mid-February, and the station is closed for the Antarctic winter. Glaciologists said the research station is unlikely to be affected by the calving event, which is what the breaking process is called. The British Antarctic Survey’s Halley Research Station is on the Brunt Ice Shelf. More: Massive iceberg nearly the size of Delaware breaks off Antarctica The name of the iceberg refers to the region it first calved from. The event wasn't a surprise: “Our teams at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have been prepared for the calving of an iceberg from Brunt Ice Shelf for years," BAS director Jane Francis said in a statement. The space agency said that the surface area of the iceberg is 1,668 square miles, measuring 106 miles long and 15 miles wide. ![]() "The negative side is that this same melting, at such a large scale, dumps lots of freshwater into the ocean, which decreases salinity levels and makes the waters unsuitable for many phytoplankton and the zooplankton that feed on them.Watch Video: Iceberg larger than New York City breaks off AntarcticaĪ massive iceberg broke off Antarctica's Brunt Ice Shelf, British researchers announced.Īt 490 square miles, the berg is bigger than New York City, which is 302 square miles.Ī crack in the ice shelf widened several hundred meters Friday before the iceberg sheared off. The last major chunk to come off in this area was in the early 1970s, the BBC said. The break off is the second major calving from this complex. The question among scientists was not if the growing rift would finish traversing the shelf and break, but when Now, nearly four years later, it has done just that. "On the positive side, as the iceberg melts, it will release a lot of nutrients that could benefit the growth of microscopic plants such as phytoplankton at the base of the oceanic food webs. Scientists say the impact of this new huge iceberg, around 600-square-miles in size and 490 feet thick, is unpredictable. In February 2019, a rift spanning most of the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica appeared ready to spawn an iceberg about twice the size of New York City. He said this kind of thing can have both positive and negative impacts on sea life. Professor Geraint Tarlinbg has been tracking another giant iceberg, A76A, which is about 3200sq kilometres. While the iceberg breaking off is a sight to behold, there will be significant impacts on the area's ecosystem. "High precision GPS instruments, as well as satellite data, have been used to monitor widening of the chasm and in 2016 BAS took the precaution of moving the Halley Research Station inland to protect it." "Since glaciologists first observed Chasm-1 widening in 2012, BAS science and operations teams have been anticipating the calving event," glaciologist Oliver Marsh said. ![]()
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