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posted by martyb on Sunday July 09 2017, @11:03AM   Printer-friendly
from the should-start-a-lottery-on-when-it-finally-calves dept.

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


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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 09 2017, @11:59AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 09 2017, @11:59AM (#536800)

    that someone gets paid to write about how they are waiting for an iceberg to break off.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 09 2017, @12:10PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 09 2017, @12:10PM (#536803)

    Not just any iceberg, but one the size of small US state.