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An iceberg twice as big as New York City is about to break with the Antarctic ice floe Brunt, raising security concerns for scientists in the region.
The iceberg would be the biggest breakup since scientists began monitoring the area in 1915.
In a press release, NASA said that a crack was growing at a rate of about 4 km per year since 2012, and that the abyss was dormant before that time. This growing northward crack may soon meet another growing chasm, the so – called "Halloween crack" discovered in October 2016 and growing to the east since the McDonalds Ice Rumples.
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Chris Shuman, NASA scientist, said L & # 39; Independent that the size of the iceberg – about 1,700 square kilometers – would make it the fifth largest iceberg currently guarded by the Suitland National Ice Center in Maryland.
"What motivates it, is the natural and long-term flow of ice outside the margins of Antarctica, so that the advancing ice tends to float on the sea ( in this case, the Weddell Sea, forming the Brunt Ice Shelf), "Mr. Shuman said. "Year after year, the ice moves further offshore, as it is fed by inland glaciers until tidal forces, currents, storms, etc., begin. to crack the floating ice ".
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Dinka woman fetching water from South Sudan
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Veronica, South Sudan, prepares tea in front of her house, recently ravaged by severe floods
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Sugeng, a producer of fish and crab from Indonesia who suffers financially every time the region is flooded
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Tan, vegetable grower, learns new methods from Oxfam in Vietnam
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Maluk, a 19 year old male from South Tonj South, South Sudan
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In South Sudan, this farmer would normally harvest sorghum, but the rains are late and the hunger season continues.
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Shepherds bringing their cattle back to Afar, Ethiopia
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Peasants harvesting chilli in Ethiopia
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If the two cracks merge, the sea ice could become "destabilized," said Joe MacGregor, a glaciologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
"The short-term future of the Brunt Ice Shelf will likely depend on the melting point of the existing divisions versus McDonald's ice rumors," said Joe MacGregor in a statement. "If they merge upstream of the Ice Ice Rumples, it is possible that the pack ice is destabilized."
The discovery that the big iceberg might break away from the continent has caused concern among researchers at the Halley station of the British Antarctic Survey, a major base operating generally throughout the year. Although the base has been rebuilt and relocated previously, the uncertainty surrounding the pack ice has already resulted in the closure of the station twice in recent years.
NASA notes that calving – when ice separates from the edge of a glacier – is a regular occurrence, but recent changes are not consistent on the pack ice.
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"We do not have a clear idea of what motivates the plateau's advancing and retreating periods during calving," said Nasa glaciologist Chris Shuman. "The likely future loss of ice on the other side of the Halloween crack suggests that greater instability is possible, presenting a risk associated with the" base of operations on the board.
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