Iceberg larger than New York City separated Antarctica

Iceberg larger than New York City separated Antarctica

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BAS’s Halley research station, located on the Brunt ice shelf, is closed for the Antarctic winter and its team of 12 people left earlier this month.

Scientists have expected a large iceberg to break for years because of large cracks that formed on the 150-meter-thick floating ice shelf, according to BAS.

A new chasm, known as the North Rift, started to move towards another large crack in November and grew a kilometer a day in January.

Aerial video taken in mid-February shows the North Rift extending as far as the eye can see.

The crack widened to several hundred meters on Friday morning – freeing it from the rest of the ice shelf, BAS said.

“Our BAS teams have been prepared for the birth of an iceberg on the Brunt ice shelf for years,” said BAS director Jane Francis in a statement.

She said they receive daily updates on the ice platform from an automated network of high-precision GPS instruments, as well as satellite imagery.

“All the data is sent back to Cambridge for analysis, so we know what’s going on even in the Antarctic winter, when there are no employees at the station, it’s pitch black and the temperature drops below -50 degrees C (or -58F ) ,” she said.

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BAS moved the Halley Research Station inland in 2016 as a precaution and the team has only been working there during the Antarctic summer since 2017 because evacuations would be difficult during the dark winter.

“This is a dynamic situation. Four years ago, we moved the Halley Research Station inland to ensure that it would not be loaded when an iceberg formed. It was a wise decision,” said BAS Director of Operations Simon Garrod, in a statement. “Our job now is to keep an eye on the situation and assess any potential impact of the current birth on the remaining ice shelf.”

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An even bigger iceberg separated from the Larsen C ice shelf in 2017 and floated in the open ocean at the end of last year.

There are six Halley Research Stations installed on the Brunt Ice Shelf since 1956 to make atmospheric and space observations of the weather.

The ice shelf flows towards the sea at a rate of about 2 kilometers per year and the icebergs break at irregular intervals.

“Changing ice on Halley is a natural process and there is no connection to the birthing events seen on the Larsen C ice shelf, and no evidence that climate change has played a significant role,” according to BAS.

Scientists are now looking at the iceberg to see what it does next.

“In the coming weeks or months, the iceberg may move; or it may run aground and remain close to Brunt’s ice shelf,” Francis said in the statement.

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