A one trillion tonne iceberg – one of the biggest ever recorded - has calved away from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The calving occurred sometime between Monday 10th July and Wednesday 12th July 2017, when a 5,800 square km section of Larsen C finally broke away. The iceberg, which is likely to be named A68, weighs more than a trillion tonnes. Its volume is twice that of Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes.
http://www.projectmidas.org/blog/calving/
Also at BBC, PBS, The Guardian, and The Verge.
Complete Calving Coverage:
Antarctic Larsen C Ice Shelf to Calve; Halley VI Research Station Plans Move
Antarctic Ice Rift Close to Calving, After Growing 17km in 6 Days
Delaware-Sized Iceberg Could Break Off of Antarctica at Any Moment
Larsen C Rift Branches as it Comes Within 5 km of Calving
Related Stories
According to a December 1st article from NASA:
On Nov. 10, 2016, scientists on NASA's IceBridge mission photographed an oblique view of a massive rift in the Antarctic Peninsula's Larsen C ice shelf....
The IceBridge scientists measured the Larsen C fracture to be about 70 miles [113 km] long, more than 300 feet [91 m] wide and about a third of a mile [a half of a kilometer] deep. The crack completely cuts through the ice shelf but it does not go all the way across it – once it does, it will produce an iceberg roughly the size of the state of Delaware.
The British Antarctic Survey's Halley VI research station is currently located on the Larsen C ice shelf. Fortunately, the station was designed to move. A December 7th article from The Guardian gives more information about that station and the upcoming move:
The British Antarctic Survey's Halley VI research station has recorded data relevant to space weather, climate change, and atmospheric phenomena from its site on the Brunt Ice Shelf shelf since 2012....
The new site, nicknamed Halley VI A, was identified during in-depth site surveys in the 2015-16 Antarctic summer. Now that winter has passed, the relocation team are preparing to tow the station 23km [14 miles] to its new home using large tractors.
The Telegraph outlines the timeframe for the move:
In 2012, satellite monitoring of the ice shelf revealed the first signs of movement in the chasm that had lain dormant for at least 35 years and, by 2013, it began opening at an alarming pace of one mile per year. If the base does not move, it could be in danger of tumbling into the chasm by 2020.
To make matters more time critical, in October, a new crack emerged 10 miles [16 km] to the north of the research station across the route sometimes used to resupply the base.
The team has just nine weeks to relocate operations, before the harsh winter begins, making it difficult to move the structure amid complete darkness, plummeting temperatures and gale-force winds.
Additional information about the Halley VI research station is available from the British Antarctic Survey.
The rift in the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica has grown by 17km in the last few days and is now only 13km from the ice front, indicating that calving of an iceberg is probably very close, Swansea University researchers revealed after studying the latest satellite data.
The rift in Larsen C is likely to lead to one of the largest icebergs ever recorded. It is being monitored by researchers from the UK's Project Midas, led by Swansea University.
Professor Adrian Luckman of Swansea University College of Science, head of Project Midas, described the latest findings:
"In the largest jump since January, the rift in the Larsen C Ice Shelf has grown an additional 17 km (11 miles) between May 25 and May 31 2017. This has moved the rift tip to within 13 km (8 miles) of breaking all the way through to the ice front, producing one of the largest ever recorded icebergs.
The rift tip appears also to have turned significantly towards the ice front, indicating that the time of calving is probably very close.
The rift has now fully breached the zone of soft 'suture' ice originating at the Cole Peninsula and there appears to be very little to prevent the iceberg from breaking away completely."
Researchers say the loss of a piece a quarter of the size of Wales will leave the whole shelf vulnerable to future break-up.
Larsen C is approximately 350m thick and floats on the seas at the edge of West Antarctica, holding back the flow of glaciers that feed into it.
Professor Luckman added, "When it calves, the Larsen C Ice Shelf will lose more than 10% of its area to leave the ice front at its most retreated position ever recorded; this event will fundamentally change the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula.
We have previously shown that the new configuration will be less stable than it was prior to the rift, and that Larsen C may eventually follow the example of its neighbour Larsen B, which disintegrated in 2002 following a similar rift-induced calving event.
The MIDAS Project will continue to monitor the development of the rift and assess its ongoing impact on the ice shelf. Further updates will be available on our blog (projectmidas.org),and on our Twitter feed"
The team say they have no evidence to link the growth of this rift, and the eventual calving, to climate change. However, it is widely accepted that warming ocean and atmospheric temperatures have been a factor in earlier disintegrations of ice shelves elsewhere on the Antarctic Peninsula, most notably Larsen A (1995) and Larsen B (2002).
They point out that this is one of the fastest warming places on Earth, a feature which will certainly not have hindered the development of the rift in Larsen C.
-- submitted from IRC
A deep crack on on Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf has nearly severed off one of the largest icebergs ever recorded:
One of the largest icebergs ever recorded — 2,500 square miles, about the size of Delaware — is about to break off Antarctica, according to the European Space Agency. The iceberg could speed up the break-off of other ice chunks, eventually eating away at a barrier that prevents ice from flowing to the sea.
The impending iceberg is being carved from one of the continent's major ice shelves, called Larsen C. Scientists have been monitoring Larsen C for months now, as a deep crack has slowly extended over the course of 120 miles. Only about three miles of ice are keeping the iceberg attached to the shelf, ESA says. No one knows when it will break off — it could be any moment — but when it does, the iceberg will likely be 620 feet thick (about the height of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York) and contain roughly 1 trillion tons of ice. It'll be drifting north toward South America, and could even reach the Falkland Islands. "If so it could pose a hazard for ships in Drake Passage," Anna Hogg from the University of Leeds, said in a statement.
Also at BBC.
As the Larsen C ice shelf moves closer to calving one of the largest icebergs on record, there are clear signs of changes in the part of the shelf which is about to calve. In late June 2017, the soon-to-be iceberg tripled in speed, producing the fastest flow speeds ever recorded on Larsen C, and seemed to be on the verge of breaking free.
The latest data from 6th July reveal that, in a release of built-up stresses, the rift branched several times. Using data from ESA’s Sentinel-1 satellites, we can see that there are multiple rift tips now within 5 km of the ice edge. We expect that these rifts will lead to the formation of several smaller icebergs, as well as the large iceberg which we estimate will have an area of 5,800 sq km. Despite this, the iceberg remains attached to the shelf by a thin band of ice. It is remarkable how the moment of calving is still keeping us waiting.
http://www.projectmidas.org/blog/multiple-branches/
There is a nice animation showing the rift growth since just last year: http://www.projectmidas.org/assets/rift_insar_animation_july.gif
It's finally adrift. When the Larsen C Ice Shelf calved yesterday [Wednesday], it sent one of the largest icebergs ever recorded slipping into a sea frosted with smaller chunks of ice. It marked the end of a decades-long splintering first seen by satellites in the 1960s. The crack stayed small for years until, in 2014, it began racing across the Antarctic ice.
The massive iceberg holds twice as much water used in the United States every year, according to calculations by Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute. It weighs about 1.1 trillion tons and measures 2,200 square miles. Its volume is twice that of Lake Erie.
"The iceberg is one of the largest recorded, and its future progress is difficult to predict," said Adrian Luckman of Wales' Swansea University, who led a project tracking the crack since 2015. "It may remain in one piece but is more likely to break into fragments. Some of the ice may remain in the area for decades, while parts of the iceberg may drift north into warmer waters."
By mass, the iceberg accounts for 12 percent of the Larsen C Ice Shelf. It's large enough that maps will have to be redrawn. Larsen C was the fourth-largest ice shelf in the world. Now it's the fifth.
In this particular political moment, the calving of a major iceberg has made headlines around the world. Environmental groups connected the event to climate change and the Trump administration's withdrawal from the Paris climate accords. But scientists have cautioned that the story of the iceberg, which will be known as A68, is more nuanced. Climate signals are not clear enough to attribute the event to rising levels of carbon dioxide, but human activity may have contributed to its calving nonetheless.
https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060057298
Previously:
Larsen C Calves Trillion Ton Iceberg
Larsen C Rift Branches as it Comes Within 5 km of Calving
Delaware-Sized Iceberg Could Break Off of Antarctica at Any Moment
The ecosystem in between the Larsen Ice Shelf and a giant iceberg is due to be studied:
Scientists will set out in the next week to study an Antarctic realm that has been hidden for thousands of years.
A British Antarctic Survey-led team will explore the seabed ecosystem exposed when a giant iceberg broke away from the Antarctic Peninsula in 2017.
The organisation has also released the first video of the berg, which covers almost 6,000 sq km.
[...] British Antarctic Survey marine biologist Dr Katrin Linse, who is leading the mission, said that the calving of the iceberg, which has been named A68, provides researchers with "a unique opportunity to study marine life as it responds to a dramatic environmental change". "It's important we get there quickly before the undersea environment changes as sunlight enters the water and new species begin to colonise," she explained, adding that the mission was "very exciting".
Also at Live Science.
Related: Antarctic Larsen C Ice Shelf to Calve; Halley VI Research Station Plans Move
Larsen C Rift Branches as it Comes Within 5 km of Calving
Larsen C Calves Trillion Ton Iceberg
That Huge Iceberg Should Freak You Out. Here's Why
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @04:27PM (5 children)
Don't touch that dial! Stay tuned to find out what happens next in The Case of the Restless Ice!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @04:40PM (4 children)
I've been finding this interesting. We get to be aware of a major geological occurrence as it happens. (Is this geology? Oceanography? Which Earth science is this technically?)
I certainly find this more interesting than the latest celebrity gossip from the twit-sphere. I sometimes have a passing interest in sociology, where I'm sure the twit-sphere would make a decent subject of study, but I prefer the Earth sciences any day.
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Wednesday July 12 2017, @04:57PM
I'd bet it falls under Oceanography. Icebergs are not generally considered Geologic features the way something like a glacier would is and an iceberg has more impact on the marine environment than anywhere else.
Of course there might also be a niche field with it's own name just for icebergs that almost no one has ever heard of before. I doubt that would surprise anyone here.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:46PM (2 children)
It was glaciology until the other day. Now it's icebergology.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @06:44PM (1 child)
Sounds like we need a study in ologyology to clear it up.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 25 2017, @06:58PM
"Icebergology" is a real word BTW.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Snotnose on Wednesday July 12 2017, @04:51PM (3 children)
we could use the water.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday July 12 2017, @04:59PM
You thought "Fiji" water was expensive? Watch how much they ask for Larsen C ice cubes (TM)(R)(C)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:04PM
You realize the city of San Diego will just enforce their "Pueblo Water rights" on it and charge you 1000x more than anywhere else in the world for every drop. They've done it before and will do it again. We pay about $200 month for water/sewer where the actual water used is $17... the rest is sewer fees, other fees, and taxes.
(Score: 3, Informative) by riT-k0MA on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:59PM
Cape Town's closer and needs it more...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @04:55PM (1 child)
Has The United Emirates laid claim to it yet?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:27PM
ITYM Dubai. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:21PM (18 children)
If I hear about this goddamn ice chunk one more time!
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:49PM
You've had it with these monkey-fighting bergs on this monday-to-friday shelf?
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:52PM (2 children)
Unless it sinks another Titanic you probably won't hear about it again.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @10:06PM (1 child)
How many Titanics has it sunk so far?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 13 2017, @03:38PM
None, but the chances that it sinks the original titanic are slim.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @06:17PM (12 children)
Simply switch to Lamestream Media.
Once you're consuming "content" from an entity which runs commercial ads for ExxonMobil[1] or Royal Dutch Shell or Atlantic Richfield, anything hinting at any of this will magically disappear.
(They don't want to offend the customer--and -you- aren't the customer; you are simply a consumer.)
[1] I've seen suggestions in alt-media [google.com] that this iceberg should be called out as #ExxonKnew.
Investigation Finds Exxon Ignored its Own Early Climate Change Warnings [soylentnews.org]
NY Attorney General Investigating ExxonMobil Over "Climate Change Lies" [soylentnews.org]
Royal Dutch Shell Knew Too: Decades-Long Climate Lies [soylentnews.org]
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @07:47PM (1 child)
yes, mega corps lie and so do your precious whore scientists.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @08:56PM
Somebody snapped, went off the deep end, reached the summit of Mt. Nutso, and made a quick stop at the loonie bin.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @08:43PM (9 children)
Why would this "magically disappear"? It's not related to global warming, it happens all the time, it won't raise sea level one iota. The only reason to suppress this story is a concern that stupid people on the Internet would mis-report it - oh, wait a minute, there are millions of stupid people on the Internet, that might happen after all.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday July 12 2017, @09:25PM (1 child)
A small correction. It cannot be shown to be directly connected to global warming. This is not at all the same as saying it is not connected to global warming. There are clear indirect connections. True, they probably only affect the speed at which this kind of thing happens, but the speed is not unrelated to the size of the resultant berg, and it also affects the rate at which the glaciers are moving from the land onto the ocean (i.e., becoming ice shelves).
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @09:43PM
I have no idea where people are getting this idea that climate change cannot be linked to any evidence. That doesn't even make sense. Here is a description of two of the people studying this discussing the evidence about a link to global warming:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/12/giant-antarctic-iceberg-breaks-free-of-larsen-c-ice-shelf [theguardian.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by WalksOnDirt on Thursday July 13 2017, @12:15AM (6 children)
Actually, it will [phys.org], just not very much.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 13 2017, @12:20AM (5 children)
"But while the birth of the huge iceberg might look dramatic, experts say it will not itself result in sea level rises. “It’s like your ice cube in your gin and tonic – it is already floating and if it melts it doesn’t change the volume of water in the glass by very much at all,” said Hogg."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/12/giant-antarctic-iceberg-breaks-free-of-larsen-c-ice-shelf [theguardian.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 13 2017, @12:38AM (3 children)
You have to wonder on whose payroll these "experts" are.
The post by WalksOnDirt mentions the difference in fresh water vs salt watter.
Yeah, that's a factor.
A bigger factor is that this ice hasn't always been floating.
It was part of the continental mass and -now- is floating.
True, an ice cube that is -already- in your drink won't raise the level of the fluid as it melts.
An ice cube that you take out of the bucket and drop into your drink WILL raise the level of the fluid.
This isn't even junior high Science.
Kids figure this out the first time they make their own iced drink.
Why you (and the "experts") don't grasp the concept remains a significant question.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 13 2017, @01:04AM
It is an ice shelf, by definition it is floating:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_shelf [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday July 13 2017, @01:13AM
When was it last not floating? My understanding is that while the ice of the shelf is relatively young (according to Wikipedia [wikipedia.org], about two centuries maximum age), the ice shelf itself has been floating for much longer than a couple of centuries and hence, has been around since before the industrial age.
(Score: 2) by WalksOnDirt on Thursday July 13 2017, @02:30PM
A fresh ice cube melting in fresh water won't. It will, slightly, if the water is salty.
(Score: 2) by WalksOnDirt on Thursday July 13 2017, @02:27PM
Which is in accord with what I said. There is only a slight change in volume from melting floating fresh ice into sea water, but it is definitely not none. Actually look at the link I posted, instead of ignoring it.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday July 13 2017, @06:55PM
If science bores you, why in the hell are you here? You just like trolling?
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:26PM (9 children)
The most fascinating part of this has been watching almost all media and nearly every discussion on the internet act like this is an ominous portent due to climate change, except the people who study it.
http://www.projectmidas.org/blog/calving/ [projectmidas.org]
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/12/giant-antarctic-iceberg-breaks-free-of-larsen-c-ice-shelf [theguardian.com]
I've never seen better evidence that this climate change issue is a religious or political thing for the vast majority of people. The mental gymastics they will pull to make this about climate change, despite being told by the researchers it isn't, are amazing.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:41PM (7 children)
Nobody in this discussion has said this calving has to with climate change, or with global warming. In general, though, if ice is warmed sufficiently it does melt.
http://www.projectmidas.org/about/ [projectmidas.org]
(Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:51PM
Nobody in this discussion has said this calving has to with climate change
Nor did they in the source article.
FTA:
“Although this is a natural event, and we’re not aware of any link to human-induced climate change, this puts the ice shelf in a very vulnerable position. This is the furthest back that the ice front has been in recorded history. We’re going to be watching very carefully for signs that the rest of the shelf is becoming unstable.”
And since it always comes up:
"Whilst this new iceberg will not immediately raise sea levels, if the shelf loses much more of its area, it could result in glaciers that flow off the land behind speeding up their passage towards the ocean."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:51PM
* has to do with
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:53PM (1 child)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14751153 [ycombinator.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @10:11PM
Check the timestamps.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:55PM
Except that it is the mission of the organization to study the effects of global warming on this ice. That is the reason this thing is getting so much attention. If these scientists worked on curing diseases, they would generate news about something that matters, instead of this distraction.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @06:26PM
https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=20519&page=1&cid=538220#commentwrap [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @06:47PM
GP gets the prize for bringing politics to this one. gewg_ gets second place.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday July 12 2017, @09:28PM
I think not everyone would agree.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:56PM (1 child)
Well, your MOM calved a trillion ton iceberg!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @08:59PM
Steve? Steve Urkel? When did you start doing mom jokes?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @06:41PM
Happy birthday to our new ice lord.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Osamabobama on Wednesday July 12 2017, @07:47PM
Did anybody else read the Clive Cussler novel wherein the supervillain caused a large chunk of ice to separate from Antarctica? His goal was to unbalance the Earth's rotation by redistributing the mass of the ice shelf further from the axis. The weird part was that all the characters in the book believed it would actually have an effect.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @10:19PM
That one was a real doozie. You don't see them like that any more.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Thursday July 13 2017, @01:16AM (2 children)
I was president of our HOA some 25-30 years ago. They decided to add a sewage charge to our water bill. Within 5 years the sewage bill was equal to our water bill. Then they went all over the news media with "wahhhh! we haven't raised our rates in 5 years, we need moooore moneeeey!!!". Pointed out they had basically doubled their fees, the news media refused to report this. sad.
What us San Diegan's pay for water, and what water costs the water folks, are completely unrelated. Sad thing is, when the water dept wants to raise our rates it only takes half of us to say "um, no, fuck off". But we can't seem to get 50% of ratepayers to vote, let alone vote "no".
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 3, Funny) by mcgrew on Thursday July 13 2017, @07:00PM (1 child)
Bob's quick guide to the apostrophe, you idiots. But don't feel TOO dumb, I saw a grocer's apostrophe in an article in a large circulation newspaper just this morning. The guy who wrote the article is in the wrong line of work! [angryflower.com]
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 15 2017, @01:31AM
Dear McGrew: BtAF and his little foetus friend say they LOVE YOU! http://www.angryflower.com/lovspa.html [angryflower.com]
Thank you for bringing a little anger into our lives.
Or, if you'd rather BtAF leap out of the woodwork, into our lives'.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 13 2017, @03:09AM (1 child)
Use proper metric units. That is an exagram iceberg: 1 trillion tonne = 10*18 grams = 1 exagram.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 13 2017, @07:37AM
Just what I need to cool my hellaflops (1027) supercomputer.