An iceberg the size of Singapore broke away from a glacier in Antarctica

The NASA observatory registered a huge iceberg that broke away from the shores of the Antarctic and began drifting in the waters of the Southern Ocean. The ice giant was named B-31 and measures 34 by 19 kilometers.

Back in July of this year, scientists noticed a giant crack in the infrared images from the satellite that separated the future iceberg B-31 from the Antarctic. But only now the iceberg finally broke off from the shore and began to move.

Now scientists are trying to predict the direction of movement of the B-31, which largely depends on the size of its “keel” or, in other words, the underwater part. The size of the part of the iceberg, sunk into the water, determines how it will be affected by certain ocean currents.

A group of researchers from the UK received a special grant of $ 80,000, thanks to which scientists plan to track the movement of an iceberg from satellites. If an iceberg ends up in open waters after some time, it could put passenger and cargo ships at great risk. And although the movement of the iceberg has already been able to theoretically calculate for years to come, the possibility of an error in the calculations cannot be underestimated.

If the B-31 iceberg leaves the Antarctic too far to the north, it will melt very quickly, leading to the appearance of a thick layer of fresh water over the saline waters of the ocean, and this, in turn, can greatly affect the speed of ocean currents.

The Pine Island Glacier, from which this iceberg broke off, is one of the most active glaciers in the Antarctic. The glacier itself slowly moves at about 4 kilometers per year, and large icebergs break away from it on average once every 5-6 years.

B-31 differs from its predecessors in an incredibly gigantic size. Its surface area is approximately 650 square kilometers, which automatically makes the B-31 the largest iceberg that scientists have ever seen in this region. The iceberg, which was previously considered the largest, is approximately two times smaller than the B-31.

Based on theverge.com

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/research-development/ajsberg-razmerom-s-singapur-otkololsya-ot-lednika-v-antarktike.html.