Iceberg the size of London breaks off Antarctica – and it’s NOT due to climate change
AN ICEBERG the size of greater London has just broken off the Amery ice shelf in east Antarctica.
Its huge size means it will now have to be monitored so it doesn't become a hazard to ships.
Surprisingly, scientists do not believe that the iceberg snapped off due to climate change.
When an iceberg breaks off an ice sheet it is known as a 'calving event'.
A calving event hasn't happened at the Amery ice shelf since 1963-64.
Ice shelves are essentially floating extensions of glaciers that hold back the flow of ground ice and maintain a standard size because ice bergs occasionally break off them.
The huge iceberg that just broke off the Amery ice shelf is called D-28.
It is about 1,636 square kilometres in size.
In comparison, the floating ice area of the Amery ice shelf is around 60,000 square kilometres in size.
The calving event occurred next to an area known as the "loose tooth", which scientists have been watching because it looks like it will break off.
The area has been monitored for the past 20 years by scientists from the Australian Antarctic program, the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Iceberg D-28 floating into the ocean shouldn't affect sea levels because it was from a section of the ice shelf that was floating anyway.
The Amery ice shelf is the third largest in Antartica and scientists expect to see major calving events from these areas every 60 to 70 years.
What is an iceberg?
Here's what you need to know...
- An iceberg is a large chunk of ice made from freshwater
- It has typically broken off from a glacier or an ice shelft
- The name is a loan translation from the Dutch 'ijsberg', which means ice mountain
- Icebergs are found floating freely in open salt-water
- Around 90% of an iceberg is below the surface, and therefore not visible
- That's why they're considered to be a major shipping hazard
- The most famous iceberg-at-sea incident was the 1912 loss of the "unsinkable" RMS Titanic, which capsized after hitting an iceberg
- The largest iceberg ever recorded is Iceberg B-15, which was calved from Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf in March 2000
- It measured 183 miles long, 23 miles wide, and had a surface area of 4,200 square miles – bigger than Jamaica
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In other news, the Mont Blanc glacier weighing 245million kilos ‘could collapse’ sparking evacuation – and climate change is being blamed.
Illegal fishing for the 'cocaine of the sea' totoaba fish could be about to result in the extinction of the world's smallest whale.
And experts think climate change could cause areas of the ocean to turn a "deep green" colour by 2100.
What do you make of this huge iceberg? Let us know in the comments...
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