A 1550 square km (963 sq mi.) iceberg, designated A81 broke off Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf.
A time-lapse of the 'calving process' was captured by satellites.
Credit; ESA - European Space Agency
A time-lapse of the 'calving process' was captured by satellites.
Credit; ESA - European Space Agency
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TechTranscript
00:00You
00:30An enormous iceberg has carved from Antarctica's brunt ice shelf.
00:54After several years of desperately clinging on, the berg broke away, as confirmed by satellite
00:59data.
01:02Scientists estimate the Newberg to be around 1,550 square kilometres.
01:08That's the size of Greater London, or five times the size of Malta.
01:14The brunt ice shelf borders the Coatesland coast in the Weddell Sea sector of Antarctica.
01:21Glaciologists have monitored the thick brunt ice shelf for years.
01:28The Newberg carved when the crack known as Chasm 1 split northwards, severing the west
01:33part of the ice shelf.
01:37It was only a matter of time before it would meet the Halloween crack.
01:41First spotted on, you guessed it, Halloween.
01:43After several years on watch for brunt iceberg carving, we finally witnessed the long-awaited
01:50separation of the western brunt ice shelf as iceberg A81.
01:56Routine monitoring from satellites offers unparalleled views of events happening in remote regions.
02:04The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission carries radar, which returns images regardless of day or night.
02:12This allows us year-round viewing, which is especially important through the long dark winter months.
02:21British Antarctic Survey's Halley 6 research station, where glaciologists have been monitoring
02:27the behaviour of the ice shelf, was relocated in 2017 to a more secure location after the
02:34ice shelf was deemed unsafe.
02:37The station has remained unaffected by the carving event.
02:41There are currently 21 staff working at the station to keep scientific operations running
02:47through winter.
02:49It is now around 20 kilometres from the line of rupture.
02:56Thanks to the Copernicus Sentinel satellites, together with in-situ and airborne measurements
03:00made by the British Antarctic Survey, the safety of the Halley base has been preserved.
03:07In February 2021, a giant berg broke off from the northern section of Brunt.
03:16Spotted by Sentinel-1, it has already drifted away from the Brunt ice shelf into the Weddell
03:22Sea.
03:23So what happens now?
03:25The carving of icebergs can speed up the flow of ice from an ice shelf.
03:29If Brunt now experiences an acceleration, it could influence the behaviour of other cracks
03:34in the area.
03:37The carving and separation of the latest iceberg, A81, now focuses attention back onto the Halloween
03:43crack, whose extension could contribute to further destabilisation of the remaining eastern portion
03:49of the Brunt ice shelf.
03:51We will continue using the Copernicus Sentinel satellites to closely monitor the behaviour and
03:56stability of the remaining Brunt ice shelf.
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