Scientists have been monitoring a massive crack in one of Antarctica's largest ice shelves for some time. In the last five months alone, the fracture has grown an extra 22 kilometers, and it's only a matter of time before it breaks free.
A massive 30-mile long ice shelf, now barely hanging on to the coastline of Antarctica, is soon to break away. Scientists say the future iceberg, twice the size of Manhattan, is not necessarily breaking off due to global warming.
Sheets of ice one mile thick cover most of Antarctica, obscuring many of its geographical features. Now a new animation by NASA offers the most detailed and accurate picture yet of what the landmass would look like if all that ice were to melt.
Scientists have discovered a sub-glacial basin in the Antarctica region which they believe is due for imminent collapse. The previously unknown area is the size of New Jersey (7,770 sq miles).
The Wilkins Ice Shelf is experiencing further disintegration that is threatening the collapse of the ice bridge connecting the shelf to Charcot Island.
The breakup of the northern section of the Larsen B ice shelf is shown in this image from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR). The collapse occurred during February and March, 2002.
NASA
The torpedo-shaped robots (technically underwater drones) are called Seagliders, and they were developed with support from the National Science Foundation. The drones will venture into ocean cavities and take readings under the ice.
University of Washington
Larsen B ice shelf on January 31, 2002. By April 13, 2002, the ice shelf had collapsed.
NASA Earth Observatory
A photo from the window of NASA's DC-8 shows the rift across the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf running off toward the horizon. The plane flew across the crevasse on Oct. 26, 2011 as part of NASA's Operation IceBridge, and also flew directly over the rift for about 18 miles, taking detailed measurements of its depth, width and shape. The ice shelf hasn't calved a major iceberg since 2001, and IceBridge took advantage of the opportunity afforded by spotting the crack to fly over it and measure its
Michael Studinger/NASA
Antarctica's major ice shelf areas.
Ted Scambos, National Snow and Ice Data Center
The satellite images not only capture the crack's length, but also the "texture" of the ice shelf with smooth ice depicted as blue and rougher areas — like the rift and open water — as orange.
Credit: Jesse Allen/NASA Earth Observatory
