Giant iceberg breaks off in Antarctica, ESA: “It’s five times bigger than Malta”

It fell from Brant Ice Shelf affiliateAntarctica theGiant iceberg whose crack began to open in 2012. According to glaciologists, the breakup would not have happened due to climate change. To see the separation were the sentinel satellites of the European Space Agency’s Copernicus programmeEuropean Space Agency It announced that satellite images confirm that a massive iceberg, about five times the size of Malta, has finally shed off the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The European Space Agency reported today that the new tower – which was supposed to separate last Sunday, January 22, according to the British observatory Bass – is estimated to be about 1,550 square kilometers and about 150 meters wide, and it caved in when the crack, known as Chasm-1, completely extended. North, cutting off the western part of the ice shelf. The rift that caused the glacier to break was first discovered in 2012 after it had been dormant for several decades. The European Space Agency has announced that after several years in which the ice block remained ‘hanging’ on the Brent shelf, image data from the Copernicus Sentinel missions have now ‘visually confirmed’ the birth event.

Glaciologists have been observing the giant ice for years, so much so that the European Space Agency even spoke of the “birth” and explains that the timing of the breakup, “although unexpected, has long been anticipated.” The cracks and fissures formed in the thick Brant ice shelf, which Bordering the coast of Coates Land in the Weddell Sea sector of Antarctica, it was only a matter of time before Chasm 1, which had been dormant for decades, encountered the Halloween Rift, first spotted on Halloween 2016.” The European Space Agency reports that the new iceberg is expected to be named A-81, with the smaller northern piece likely identified as A-81A or A-82. The European Space Agency explains that icebergs are traditionally identified with a capital letter indicating the quadrant of the Antarctic Circle where they were originally seen, followed by a serial number, and then, if the iceberg breaks into smaller fragments, by a sequential lowercase letter. The split was first reported by the Bas-British Antarctic Survey as having occurred on January 22 between 1900 and 2000 UTC during a spring wave. Bass’s Halle VI Research Station, where glaciologists monitored ice shelf behavior, was unaffected by the calving event. The European Space Agency states that in 2017 the research station was moved to a safer location after the ice shelf was deemed unsafe. The station is currently located about 20 kilometers from the break line and there are currently 21 people working at the station maintaining the feeders and facilities that keep science experiments going during the winter.

“The breakup of the iceberg has finally happened,” explains researcher and glaciologist Mark Drinkwater of the European Space Agency, who thus welcomed the news of the breakup of the giant iceberg, 5 times the size of Malta and event according to glaciologist Dominic. Hodgson of the British Antarctic Survey is “unrelated to climate change”. “After several years of observing the ‘birth’ of the iceberg, the long-awaited separation of the Brunt A81 iceberg has occurred,” Drinkwater notes in a post on esa.int. “The northward spread of Chasm 1 and Bas’ decision in time to move Halley’s base to safer ground was accompanied by what may be the most detailed and longest-lived examination of the events that led to the natural birth of the Antarctic ice shelf,” explains the scientist. “Thanks to Copernicus, along with in situ and aerial measurements by the British Antarctic Survey, the integrity of Halley’s base has been preserved. In the meantime – continues Drinkwater – a combination of summer Sentinel-2 images and the availability of year-round and winter observations by Sentinel radar 1- Putting the pattern of deformation and the prevalence of ice shelf fracture under a worldwide general microscope.

For Dominic Hodgson, Bass glaciologist, “This ‘birth’ was expected and is part of the normal behavior of the Brent Ice Shelf. It is not about climate change. Our scientific and operational teams continue to monitor the ice shelf in real time to make sure it is safe and to preserve Introducing the science we’re doing at Halle. The 0ESA and Bas scientists report that “iceberg ice from the ice shelf is followed by a modification of ice flow into the ice shelf.” “If Brunt now experiences acceleration, it could influence the behavior of other cracks in the area,” they finally add.