Two years ago , a crack appeared on an Methedrine shelf along a stretch of Antarctic sea-coast . The fissure has grow considerably since then , enkindle concerns that it will break away free and organize an crisphead lettuce over twice the size of it of Manhattan .
trash shelf are thick plates of coastline ice that float over the ocean . This particular ice shelf , called the Nansen ice shelf , measurement about 30 naut mi ( 50 klick ) foresighted and 20 miles ( 35 km ) across . In 2013 , geologists noticed that a crack had form on the shelf running parallel to the coast . Satellite images taken tardily last yr show the academic degree to which the crack cocaine has grown since that time . scientist are now saying the entire social system could bring out innocent from the continent and float into Terra Nova Bay in the Southern Ocean .
Back in December , geologists Christine Dow and Ryan Walker observed the situation from helicopter . Dow enamour this stunning epitome of the go during the flight .
“ There ’s a huge crack , miles long and sometimes over a hundred M wide , which runs more or less parallel to the front of the sparkler shelf,”notedWalker at his blog . “ Over the wintertime , the ocean surface freezes and traps belittled icebergs in the crack , producing a fascinatingly stop ices mantle . ”
Satellite images taken just a few days ago show that the ice rink ledge is still attached to the sea-coast . So with wintertime settle down in , it ’s unlikely that the ledge will single out itself sometime presently . That say , secure wintertime wind can forbid the piss beyond the shelf from freezing . Asnotedat NASA ’s Earth Observatory , it ’s “ indecipherable whether the front will separate soon or advert on like a loose tooth . ”
Dow is desire to return to the site next summertime . As she tell NASA , “ I ’m really concerned to see whether this feature film is occurring because of the topography around the methamphetamine shelf , or whether it was initially created by control surface water flow into a pocket-size water ice surface crack . We ’re planning an intensive survey of this feature in the hail years and will hopefully get a hold on the causes . ”
This kind of matter happens from sentence to time along the south-polar coast , and it ’s not of necessity come to to climate alteration . Some of these events are cyclical , as ice grows , break free , and then turn back again . Back in 2008 , for example , the Wilkins ice shelf disintegrated into dozens of big glaciers . Years later , the leftover of the collapsed shelfcould still be image from outer space . Also in 2008 , the Serson frappe shelf along the northern seashore of Canada ’s Ellesmere Islandexperienced a significant retreat — an event that has been linked to climate change .
Finally , there’sB-15 T , the largest berg ever observe by geologist . Calved from Antarctica ’s Ross Ice Shelf in 2000 , it measure 183 mile ( 295 km ) longsighted and 23 air mile ( 37 km ) wide . That ’s large than the whole island of Jamaica , and about the size of Connecticut . Over the years it break up into smaller pieces , includingB-15A , which covered 2,500 square miles of sea control surface sphere . Most iceberg get caught up in the swirl Antarctic currents and fall apart , but this one stayed trapped in the cool coastal water where it could remain for decade .
[ NASA Earth Observatory ]
AntarcticaClimate changeGlobal warmingIcebergsScience
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