A large iceberg " the size of Greater London " has break off theBrunt Ice Shelfin Antarctica . The calve eventon January 22is believed to be fully natural and a long time come . The BritishAntarctic Survey ( BAS)has been documenting the fracture for tenner , and in 2016 even made the decision topick up and move their research base23 kilometers ( 14 mile ) further inland to avoid danger , a wise move as it has now snatch off .
The Brunt Ice Shelf is 150 m ( 492 feet ) blockheaded and the iceberg that calve from it has a Earth’s surface country of 1,550 straightforward kilometers ( 598 hearty miles ) . That it ’s heavy than the area of cities like New York and Los Angeles , and only slightly pocket-size than London . The scissure that caused the severance was called Chasm-1 , which became combat-ready again in 2012 after being dormant for 35 years .
After it begin to extend over the following days , in 2016 the BAS decidedto careen the Halley base23 kilometer ( 14.3 miles ) inland by essentially putting it on skis and being towed by a tractor . The call to move it was indeed correct as now Chasm-1 has cut back off the portion of the Ice Shelf the Halley VI research laboratory used to take .
The British Antarctic Survey’s previous Halley VI location was just about the t in “Brunt” on the iceberg. Image credit: BAS
“ Our glaciologists and operation teams have been anticipating this event . Measurements of the ice shelf are convey out multiple metre a day using an automatise web of high - precision GPS instruments that fence the station , " Professor Dame Jane Francis , Director of BAS allege in astatement .
" These evaluate how the ice shelf is deforming and moving , and are compared to satellite image from ESA , NASA and the German artificial satellite TerraSAR - X. All data are sent back to Cambridge for analysis , so we know what is happening even in the south-polar winter – when there are no staff on the station , it is sinister for 24 time of day and the temperature fall below minus 50 degrees C ( or -58F ) . ”
Calving consequence pass off on a regular basis although foreshadow the exact instant is not possible . Brunt seems to be less affected than theLarsen C Ice Shelfwhen it amount to the climate crisis and the team does n’t believe that it roleplay a significant role in this event .
In 2021, the A-74 iceberg calved from the Brunt Ice Shelf, which is showing the cracks where the new iceberg will eventually break off. Image credit: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
“ This calving event has been expect and is part of the innate demeanour of the Brunt Ice Shelf . It is not connect to climate alteration . Our science and operating teams continue to monitor the ice ledge in veridical - clip to see it is safe , and to maintain the delivery of the scientific discipline we set about at Halley , ” Professor Dominic Hodgson , BAS glaciologist , impart .
The iceberg will be given an prescribed name by theU.S. National Ice Center .
