A colossal 1,550-square-kilometer (600-square-mile) iceberg, almost the size of Greater London, has broken free from Antarctica's Brunt Ice Shelf during a spring tide in full view of British scientists who witnessed the major Antarctic event from near the split in their base.
The massive ice formation is about the size of London and its surrounding suburbs. Unlike several similar iceberg events in recent years, the British Antarctic Survey polar research organization said they did not believe climate change was responsible for the gigantic iceberg.
"This calving event has been expected and is part of the natural behaviour of the Brunt Ice Shelf. It is not linked to climate change," said BAS glaciologist Dominic Hodgson.
The fissure in the ice sheet, which researchers named Chasm-1, was discovered years ago. In the years since, the gap widened until the chunk of ice broke away.
The iceberg, which has yet to be named by the United States National Ice Center, is now expected to drift off with the current along the Antarctic coast like previous massive icebergs.
British glacier researchers will continue to monitor the iceberg.
Last year, researchers linked the break-off of a roughly 1,200-square-kilometer iceberg to climate change, since the melting of the sea ice has accelerated significantly due to higher temperatures.
The British Antarctic Survey operates a research station on the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The research group moved the station about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) further inland in 2016 so that it would not be endangered by massive iceberg break-offs such as those recently observed from the station.
Researchers work from the station during the Antarctic summer, which runs from November to March. During the remainder of the year, researchers in the British university town of Cambridge monitor the region using satellite images from space agencies – European Space Agency and NASA – as well as the German satellite TerraSAR-X.
The Brunt Ice Shelf is the most closely monitored ice shelf on Earth, according to the British Antarctic Survey.
