Antarctica iceberg breaking off effects11/18/2023 And in October 2022, satellites spotted the world's largest iceberg, A-76A, as it entered the Drake Passage and began drifting toward the equator. 22 after an enormous chasm finally snapped the ice sheet in half. In early March, researchers from the British Antarctic Survey took the first aerial photographs of A81, an iceberg the size of Los Angeles that broke off from the Brunt Ice Shelf on Jan. Icebergs can dump a lot of fresh water as they melt, which can impact ecosystems and ocean currents as they slowly die: A68 dumped more than 1 trillion tons of water into the ocean over a period of three years.ī-22A is not the only major Antarctic iceberg to embark on a journey recently. Scientists will also track B-22A as it moves away from Antarctica to see where and when it will break apart. km) March 15, seen in combo of Landsat and MODIS imagery. Massive Antarctic iceberg was ripped in two by powerful ocean currents Complete collapse of East Antarcticas Conger Ice Shelf (1200 sq. Arctic 'ghost island' that vanished may have actually been a dirty iceberg World's largest iceberg disintegrates into 'alphabet soup,' NASA photo shows News By Harry Baker published 18 April 2023 Iceberg B-22A, which first broke off from Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier in 2002, is finally moving away from the South Pole after being freed from. Therefore, it is important that researchers monitor any changes that may be triggered by an iceberg's departure. (A68 eventually broke apart after narrowly missing South Georgia.)ĭespite melting slower than originally thought, the Doomsday Glacier remains in a precarious situation, and recent research has shown that its melt rate could rapidly accelerate in the future. 01:25 - Source: CNN With the iceberg now floating independently, the area of Larsen C has been reduced by more than 12, forever changing the landscape of the peninsula, according to experts. Experts feared that the mighty berg would become trapped on the surrounding seafloor, like B-22A, and that its cooling effect would drastically impact the ecosystem there. A chunk of ice more than twice the size of New York City could break off from Antarctica’s Brunt Ice shelf essentially at any moment. In spring 2020, alarms were raised when the world's formerly largest iceberg, A68, became set on a collision course with South Georgia, an island in the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Stationary icebergs can cool the surrounding waters, which can have a stabilizing effect on glaciers and other ice masses but also harm marine ecosystems if they get stuck further afield, according to the Earth Observatory. Scientists are particularly concerned about B-22A venturing away from Antarctica because it may impact the stability of the Thwaites Glacier. In March 2013, a massive iceberg named B-15T was spotted 13 years after breaking off from Antarctica, by which time it had circled half the continent. It's rare for the floating ice chunks to stay intact for more than a decade, but it is not unheard of. Once a large iceberg calves from an ice sheet or glacier, it normally takes only a few years to journey away from polar regions and into warmer waters, where it will eventually break apart. “One thing is for sure – the retreating Thwaites glacier will continue to add to global sea levels for many years to come.A time lapse of the iceberg moving away from Antarctica between Oct. “But while uncertainty remains about exactly what will happen in West Antarctica,” concludes Gilbert. Two years later, only fragments of the former berg remain. At the time, it was the largest iceberg floating anywhere in the world. Other recent research has suggested chunks of ice that break off the glacier will help arrest further collapse. In May 2021, Iceberg A-76 broke from the Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The collapse of the Thwaites Glacier and the worst case scenario chain reaction is not guaranteed, however. Pettit added that scientists have already seen fractures propagating across the shelf by up to several miles a year. “But before it fully looses its grip on the seamount, this eastern ice shelf is likely to shatter into hundreds of icebergs just like the shattering of your car’s window,” explained Erin Pettit in a presentation at the conference. The portion of the glacier that hangs over the ocean is being melted from beneath by warming sea water, while the entire structure is losing its grip on an underwater seamount that helps hold it back from flowing out to sea. Edge wasting of icebergs in warm surface water (sea-ice-free, >1.8C) implies a mechanism based on waterline erosion.
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