Giant Iceberg Breaks Off Antarctic Brunt

Space.com

A 1550 square km (963 sq mi.) iceberg, designated A81 broke off Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf.  A time-lapse of the 'calving process' was captured by satellites.  Credit; ESA - European Space Agency

Transcript

00:30An enormous iceberg has carved from Antarctica's brunt ice shelf.

00:54After several years of desperately clinging on, the berg broke away, as confirmed by satellite

00:59data.

01:02Scientists estimate the new berg to be around 1,550 square kilometres.

01:08That's the size of Greater London, or five times the size of Malta.

01:14The brunt ice shelf borders the Coatsland Coast in the Weddell Sea sector of Antarctica.

01:21Geolaciologists have monitored the thick brunt ice shelf for years.

01:28The new berg carved when the crack known as Chasm 1 split northwards, severing the west

01:33part of the ice shelf.

01:37It was only a matter of time before it would meet the Halloween crack, first spotted on,

01:42you guessed it, Halloween.

01:45After several years on watch for brunt iceberg carving, we finally witnessed the long-awaited

01:50separation of the western brunt ice shelf as Iceberg A81.

01:56Routine monitoring from satellites offers unparalleled views of events happening in

02:01remote regions.

02:04The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission carries radar, which returns images regardless of

02:09day or night.

02:12This allows us year-round viewing, which is especially important through the long dark

02:17winter months.

02:21The British Antarctic Survey's Halley 6 research station, where glaciologists have

02:26been monitoring the behaviour of the ice shelf, was relocated in 2017 to a more secure location

02:34after the ice shelf was deemed unsafe.

02:37The station has remained unaffected by the carving event.

02:41There are currently 21 staff working at the station to keep scientific operations running

02:47through winter.

02:49It is now around 20km from the line of rupture.

02:56Thanks to the Copernicus Sentinel satellites, together with in-situ and airborne measurements

03:00made by the British Antarctic Survey, the safety of the Halley base has been preserved.

03:07In February 2021, a giant berg broke off from the northern section of Brunt.

03:16Spotted by Sentinel-1, it has already drifted away from the Brunt ice shelf into the Weddell

03:21Sea.

03:23So what happens now?

03:25The carving of icebergs can speed up the flow of ice from an ice shelf.

03:30If Brunt now experiences an acceleration, it could influence the behaviour of other

03:34cracks in the aerial.

03:37The carving and separation of the latest iceberg, A81, now focuses attention back onto the Halloween

03:43crack, whose extension could contribute to further destabilisation of the remaining eastern

03:49portion of the Brunt ice shelf.

03:51We will continue using the Copernicus Sentinel satellites to closely monitor the behaviour

03:56and stability of the remaining Brunt ice shelf.

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