Giant glacier broke away from Antarctica
Bergy will radically change the landscape of the whole of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Moscow. July 12. INTERFAX.RU — One of the largest icebergs ever recorded broke away in the South-West of Antarctica, on the Antarctic continental shelf, reports “bi-Bi-si”.
The event was not a big surprise. Glaciologists (experts on natural ice) knew that sooner or later it will happen. Monitor the development of large cracks in the ice Shelf Larsen took more than ten years. The collapse of the ice shelf “Larsen” began on the Eastern front, Antarctica in 2014.
Breaking news! The iceberg has fully detached from Larsen C – more details to follow soon pic.twitter.com/pdSxDuAGjR
— Project MIDAS (@MIDASOnIce) July 12, 2017
Ice shelf Larsen consisted of three large glaciers — “Larsen A, Larsen B and Larsen C”. Now split the last of the remaining “Larsen C”. In June, split it reached 13 km from the edge of the glacier.
The lead researcher of the British research group Project MIDAS, which controls the ice shelf in 2014, predicted that the iceberg will break away from the shelf in the near future.
Float freely went to the block of ice with a thickness of about 200 m and about 6 thousand sq. km, it is about how two Moscow.
However, as noted, means she does not sail, the scientists will be carefully watching her.
Scientists believe that the fault is likely triggered by climate change. Over the past 50 years, the temperature in the southwest of Antarctic, on Antarctic Peninsula, has increased on 2,5 °C.