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Over The Horizon

Berg Breakup

The largest recorded iceberg has broken away from the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

Nicknamed the B15 by the US National Ice Centre, the iceberg measures 11,000 square kilometres in size, equivalent to the size of Jamaica. It measures 295 kms by 37 kms.

"This reduces the ice shelf to what it was in the early 1900s," says Dr Dean Peterson, of Antarctica New Zealand. This was based on the early descriptions of the Ross Ice Shelf by Robert Falcon Scott.

Peterson says the breakaway of the iceberg is a natural process which occurs each season to all ice shelves in Antarctica. The difference this time is the exceptional size of the iceberg.

"The iceberg has some defects already observable in the satellite images, so there is a high likelihood that it will break up before drifting too far out to sea," he says.

The only real threat will occur if the iceberg is to drift into the shipping area used for access to McMurdo and Scott Base next summer. All that can be done during the winter months is to monitor the iceberg using satellite images.

Peterson says the first possible date to put any equipment on the iceberg will be in mid-August during the winter flights. However it is more likely that there will be a science team in Antarctica in October who will undertake the work during the normal operational season.

"The breakup of the iceberg is not thought to be due to global warming," Peterson adds.