One of the largest icebergs ever recorded broke off in the southwest of Antarctica, on the Antarctic shelf, according to the BBC.
The event did not come as a big surprise. Glaciologists (natural ice experts) knew that sooner or later this would happen. The development of a large fissure on the Larsen Ice Shelf has been observed for over ten years. The breakup of the Larsen S ice shelf began in 2014 on the eastern front of Antarctica.
The Larsen Ice Shelf consisted of three large glaciers - Larsen A, Larsen B and Larsen C. Now the last of the remaining ones has broken away - "Larsen C." In June, the split in it reached 13 km from the edge of the glacier.
Fault line. It all started with big cracks. which increased rapidly
The lead researcher of the British research group Project MIDAS, which has been monitoring the ice shelf since 2014, predicted that the iceberg would break off the shelf in the very near future.
Iceberg dimensions
A block of ice about 200 m thick and about 6 thousand square meters in size set off for free swimming. km., this is about two and a half of Moscow. If the winds and currents push the iceberg north of Antarctica, there is a real threat to shipping. Experts still hope that the glacier will not float far away, it will be closely watched.
Scientists believe that the rift was most likely triggered by climate change. Over the past 50 years, temperatures in Southwest Antarctica, on the Antarctic Peninsula, have increased by 2.5 ° C.
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