An Iceberg The Size Of The City Of London Breaks Apart From Antarctica

LONDON – A gun it almost the size of a city London broke off from the Antarctic ice sheet near the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) research station. An iceberg measuring approximately 1,550 square kilometers and 150 meters thick broke off from Antarctica on Sunday 22 January 2023 evening.

British scientists have been monitoring the growth of large new, as yet unnamed, iceberg cracks on the Brunt Ice Shelf for the last decade. The Brunt Ice Shelf is the location of the British Antarctic Survey’s (BAS) Halley Research Station.

“Our glaciologists and operations team anticipated this event. Measurements of the ice shelves are made several times a day using an automated network of high-precision GPS instruments,” said Professor Dame Jane Francis, Director of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) from the BNO News page, Tuesday (24/1/2023).

Also read; The World’s Largest Iceberg Breaks Off Antarctica, Drifts Into The Pacific Ocean

The first signs of a changing ravine called Chasm-1, which lay dormant for at least 35 years, were detected via satellite monitoring in 2012. The change began to progress in 2015, and Chasm-1 continued to grow across the ice sheet in December 2022.

“The new iceberg formed along the Chasm-1 line and is slightly larger than A74 (2021 Iceberg collapse). It will likely follow the A74 course in the Antarctic Coastal Stream and BAS glaciologists will track its movement,” BAS said.

Also read; bad! Antarctic Iceberg Split in Two

The British Antarctic Survey says the formation of new icebergs, a natural process called calving, is not due to climate change. However, this phenomenon has accelerated the loss of sea ice in the Arctic and parts of Antarctica.

(wib)