Satellite captures world's largest iceberg breaking from Antarctica
By
Adriana Navarro, AccuWeather staff writer
Published May 20, 2021 9:17 PM EDT
|
Updated May 24, 2021 3:27 PM EDT
A chunk of ice, almost 75 times bigger than Manhattan, has broken off the Ronne ice shelf.
An iceberg larger than Rhode Island broke off from the Ronne ice shelf in Antarctica's Weddell Sea mid-May, and a satellite operated by European scientists captured the moment the massive piece of ice broke away from the shelf.
Dubbed A-76, images of the enormous iceberg recently taken by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission showed it to measure about 4,320 square kilometers in size, or roughly 1,668 square miles, making it the largest iceberg in the world.
For comparison, Rhode Island is about 1,214 square miles (3,144 square kilometers). The European Space Agency compared the iceberg to the size of the Spanish island of Majorca, which is about 3,640 square kilometers.
At 170 kilometers long and 25 kilometers wide (106 miles long and 16 miles wide), A-76 bumped the A-23A iceberg out of its ranking title as the largest in the world. The latter was about 3,880 square-kilometers (1,498 miles) and is also located in the Weddell Sea.
An iceberg the size of Rhode Island broke off of the Ronne ice shelf in Antarctica. (Credit: European Space Agency/Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission/contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
(Credit: European Space Agency/Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission/contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
The iceberg was first spotted by the British Arctic Survey and confirmed from the U.S. National Ice Center using Copernicus Sentinel-1 imagery, according to the European Space Agency.
Unlike other areas of western Antarctica, the portion of the Weddell Sea where A-76 broke off has been spared the influx of warm ocean water that's been threatening to break off other huge glaciers.
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"It's not an area that is undergoing any significant change because of global heating. The main message is it's part of a natural cycle," Alex Brisbourne, a glaciologist at the British Antarctic Survey, told New Scientist. He added that since part of the ice sheet that the iceberg had calved from was floating, the iceberg shouldn't have any impact on sea-level rise. It could, however, have other impacts on the ocean, such as influencing salinity.
Part of the Ronne ice shelf in Antarctica broke off into the Weddell Sea, becoming the world's largest iceberg. (Credit: European Space Agency/Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission/contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
Mark Drinkwater of the European Space Agency told New Scientist that while A-76 is currently considered to be the largest iceberg in the world, it doesn't even break into the top 10 largest icebergs in history.
"In the grand context of things, this is not humungous. Of course, it's an evolution in the ice shelf," Drinkwater said. One of the biggest calving events of the Ronne ice shelf was back in 1986, when icebergs totaling up to 11,000 square-kilometers broke off. Other similar calving events, albeit not as large as in 1986, followed in 1998, 2000 and 2015.
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News / Weather News
Satellite captures world's largest iceberg breaking from Antarctica
By Adriana Navarro, AccuWeather staff writer
Published May 20, 2021 9:17 PM EDT | Updated May 24, 2021 3:27 PM EDT
A chunk of ice, almost 75 times bigger than Manhattan, has broken off the Ronne ice shelf.
An iceberg larger than Rhode Island broke off from the Ronne ice shelf in Antarctica's Weddell Sea mid-May, and a satellite operated by European scientists captured the moment the massive piece of ice broke away from the shelf.
Dubbed A-76, images of the enormous iceberg recently taken by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission showed it to measure about 4,320 square kilometers in size, or roughly 1,668 square miles, making it the largest iceberg in the world.
For comparison, Rhode Island is about 1,214 square miles (3,144 square kilometers). The European Space Agency compared the iceberg to the size of the Spanish island of Majorca, which is about 3,640 square kilometers.
At 170 kilometers long and 25 kilometers wide (106 miles long and 16 miles wide), A-76 bumped the A-23A iceberg out of its ranking title as the largest in the world. The latter was about 3,880 square-kilometers (1,498 miles) and is also located in the Weddell Sea.
An iceberg the size of Rhode Island broke off of the Ronne ice shelf in Antarctica. (Credit: European Space Agency/Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission/contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
The iceberg was first spotted by the British Arctic Survey and confirmed from the U.S. National Ice Center using Copernicus Sentinel-1 imagery, according to the European Space Agency.
Unlike other areas of western Antarctica, the portion of the Weddell Sea where A-76 broke off has been spared the influx of warm ocean water that's been threatening to break off other huge glaciers.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
"It's not an area that is undergoing any significant change because of global heating. The main message is it's part of a natural cycle," Alex Brisbourne, a glaciologist at the British Antarctic Survey, told New Scientist. He added that since part of the ice sheet that the iceberg had calved from was floating, the iceberg shouldn't have any impact on sea-level rise. It could, however, have other impacts on the ocean, such as influencing salinity.
Part of the Ronne ice shelf in Antarctica broke off into the Weddell Sea, becoming the world's largest iceberg. (Credit: European Space Agency/Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission/contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
Mark Drinkwater of the European Space Agency told New Scientist that while A-76 is currently considered to be the largest iceberg in the world, it doesn't even break into the top 10 largest icebergs in history.
"In the grand context of things, this is not humungous. Of course, it's an evolution in the ice shelf," Drinkwater said. One of the biggest calving events of the Ronne ice shelf was back in 1986, when icebergs totaling up to 11,000 square-kilometers broke off. Other similar calving events, albeit not as large as in 1986, followed in 1998, 2000 and 2015.
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