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This coffin-shaped iceberg (shown here September 23, 2018) is part of an iceberg that separated from the Ross ice floe and is now turning in the icy waters of Antarctica.
Credit: NASA
Eighteen years ago, a large piece of ice broke loose from the Ross ice floe in Antarctica, flew to the sea and burst shortly afterwards. One of these pieces, a coffin-shaped iceberg, has been found – almost two decades later – in warmer waters. According to NASA, it will die.
NASA explained that throughout its life, this tabular iceberg surrounded Antarctica in the icy waters of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. It's a small, moving water loop that can keep icebergs in the cold of the vicinity of the southern continent for years. It is in this intermediate zone that the iceberg, called B-15T, took its coffin form, according to NASA, the result of collisions with other icebergs, as well as other factors.
"The shape of the coffin is an accident of time and space, considering the B-15T's approximately 18.5-year journey," said glaciologist Chris Shuman, NASA's University of Maryland Baltimore, in a statement. "We can only guess at the forces that have acted on this remains of B-15 throughout the long drive around Antarctica." [Iconic Photos of Earth from Space]
When an astronaut from the International Space Station surveyed the iceberg through the clouds and photographed the photo above, the piece of ice had been redirected north, into the Atlantic South. NASA has written that the lack of other sea ice around it suggests that it is in warm waters where it will soon melt.
He will have other remains of the iceberg that separated from Antarctica 18 years ago, still turning indefinitely in the cold waters of the south.
The iceberg "coffin" presented on October 20, 2017.
Credit: NASA
Originally published on Science live.
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