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NASA shared the image of a strange iceberg rectangle appeared floating off the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, near the Larsen C ice floe.
The image was taken during an IceBridge flight, an airborne study of the polar ice of the planet. The mission aims to provide a 3D view of the ice that makes up the Arctic and Antarctic, providing essential information on its evolution over time.
In a tweet, said the space agency, that the rectangular block was a "tabular iceberg" that appears to have recently separated from the Larsen C ice floe. Sharp angles and the flat surface are key indicators that it has shown. "This is a relatively recent calving event," said NASA.
In an interview with LiveScience, Kelly Brunt, NASA scientist on ice, explained how the iceberg formed rectangle: the surface and you know that they have a crazy basement. And then you have what we call "tabular icebergs". "
The latter, she said, separates from the edges of the ice shelves in the same way that a nail too long eventually splits. That's why they have sharp edges. Brunt acknowledged that this iceberg was "a little unusual". She estimated her height about a mile wide.
Scientists are currently monitoring the Larsen C ice shelf, which is showing signs of disintegration. Last year, an iceberg the size of Delaware (named A-68) broke upWhile pointing out that everything was about to collapse – just like the ice Larsen A and B before.
The A-68 floats mainly in the Weddell Sea since its break-up, but scientists have recently discovered that it was returning to Antarctica. Mark Brandon of the Open University of London, who studies the iceberg, said that it was rotating and that, as it continues its current trajectory, its northern end will collide with Larsen C "The dynamic is spectacular, being stopped easily," he wrote in a blog post.
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