NASA showed a photo of a crack in one of the largest glaciers in Greenland
MOSCOW, April 15 — RIA Novosti. The Petermann glacier, one of the largest in Greenland, there was a crack that, according to the researchers, could lead to the breakaway of large ice “island” and in the long term to rising sea levels, reports the Washington Post.
Pictures of cracks were taken from airplanes to NASA in the framework of Operation IceBridge for monitoring the state of Arctic ice.
From today’s #IceBridge flight: A closeup shot of the new rift on the Petermann Glacier’s ice shelf, NW Greenland. pic.twitter.com/mb0hYO8Zlm
— NASA ICE (@NASA_ICE) 14 APR 2017
The first attention to the crack drew a scientist from the Netherlands, studied from space pictures of the glaciers. Researchers have not yet determined the cause of the formation of cracks that appeared in the center, not the edge of the glacier, which for him is unusual, the article says.
From today’s #IceBridge flight Portion of the newly identified rift on the Petermann Glacier’s ice shelf (the straight feature near bottom center) pic.twitter.com/kmeQoik8ZO
— NASA ICE (@NASA_ICE) 14 APR 2017
A new crack appeared near another larger split in the ice. If the two cracks are joined, the resulting fold will extend for half the length of the ice shelf, which in turn can lead to spalling of its parts.
In 2010 and 2012 from Petermann glacier ice had already separated “Islands”, and the area of one of them exceeded 250 square kilometers, says the Washington Post. According to the employee of the Geological survey of Denmark and Greenland, Jason Box, a breakaway area of the glacier in case of a new fault will be from 130 to 180 square kilometers.