Larsen C: Gigantic iceberg the size of Norfolk expected to break off Antarctica

Larsen C, which could be 5,000km², has a crack which has grown 20 miles since December

Peter Walker
Wednesday 22 February 2017 19:27 GMT
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Gigantic crack in Antarctic ice shelf expected to spawn iceberg

A huge iceberg roughly the size of Norfolk in the UK, or Rhode Island in the US, is expected to soon break away from Antarctica.

Footage from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has revealed the 110-mile crack, in the Larsen C ice shelf of the Antarctic Peninsula, has grown 20 miles since December.

While climate change is repeatedly blamed for the break-up of the ice caps on the poles, the BAS said iceberg carving is a natural process.

“Iceberg calving is a normal part of the glacier life cycle, and there is every chance that Larsen C will remain stable and this ice will re-grow,” said Dr Paul Holland, an ice and ocean modeller at the BAS.

The crack has lengthened by 20 miles since December MIDAS Project/A.Kucjman/Swansea University

“However, it is also possible that this iceberg calving will leave Larsen C in an unstable configuration. If that happens, further iceberg calving could cause a retreat of Larsen C.

“We won’t be able to tell whether Larsen C is unstable until the iceberg has calved and we are able to understand the behaviour of the remaining ice.

“The stability of ice shelves is important because they resist the flow of the grounded ice inland.

“After the collapse of Larsen B, its tributary glaciers accelerated, contributing to sea-level rise.”

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Larsen A and B, also situated on the north of the Antarctic Peninsula, broke away in 1995 and 2002 respectively.

The BAS says some of the largest icebergs recorded broke away from ice shelves.

This included an iceberg estimated to be 32,000 km², bigger than Belgium, in 1956, and one the size of Wales in 1986 but which broke up into three pieces “almost immediately”.

The largest recorded by satellites, calved from the Ross ice shelf in 2001, was roughly the size of Jamaica at 11,000 km².

Climate change experts said in November that global sea ice is retreating at unprecedented speed partly because of climate change.

Donald Trump, who has flip flopped his opinion on global warming, is expected to pull the US out of the Paris climate change deal.

But on the Larsen C break-off, which could be 5,000km², the BAS said: “There is not enough information to know whether the expected calving event on Larsen C is an effect of climate change or not, although there is good scientific evidence that climate change has caused thinning of the ice shelf. Once the iceberg has calved, the big question is whether Larsen C will start to retreat.”

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