As reported by scientists, an enormous iceberg about the size of Greater London broke off from the Antarctic ice shelf close to a research station, making it the second such break in the past two years. A large iceberg of 1,550 square kilometers (598 square miles) broke off from the Brunt Ice Shelf, which was just 150 meters (492 feet) thick, ten years after scientists first saw significant fissures on the shelf. The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) concluded that a natural process known as “calving” was responsible for the construction of the new iceberg, rather than the effects of climate change, which are hastening the loss of sea ice in the Arctic and certain regions of Antarctica.
According to BAS glaciologist Dominic Hodgson, “this calving episode has been foreseen and is part of the normal behavior of the Brunt Ice Shelf.” There is no correlation between this and global warming. When ice breaks off at a glacier’s terminal, known as its “terminus,” scientists use the word “calving.” Many years ago, scientists spotted the ice crack they later dubbed Chasm-1. The rift grew larger over the years, eventually separating the ice piece. A year earlier, a similarly stunning split occurred, this time involving an iceberg that was 1,270 square kilometers (490 square miles) in size. The US National Ice Center has not yet given the iceberg a name, but it is likely to follow the coast of Antarctica with the current. The Halley VI Research Station, a British outpost that tracks the status of the massive floating ice shelf every day, appears undisturbed by the most recent crack. In 2016, as fissures in the ice threatened to cut it off, the mobile research base was moved to the station roughly 20km (12.4 miles) farther inland. Since then, personnel deployments have been limited to the Antarctic summer months of November through March. Currently, there are 21 researchers stationed there.
During the winter, when it is dark for 24 hours a day and temperatures drop below -50 degrees Celsius, they keep scientific research running remotely by maintaining the power supply and infrastructure needed to do so (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit). Hodgson elaborated, “Our research and operations staff continue to monitor the ice shelf in real time to ensure it remains safe, and to sustain the delivery of the science we conduct at Halley.” The BAS, a frontrunner in international environmental studies, reports that collection will begin around February 6.
