Trillion-ton iceberg A-68 is leaving Larsen-C shelf
Sentinel-1 CSAR EW acquired on 10 July 2017 at 00:14:58 UTC
Sentinel-3 SRAL LAND acquired on 12 July 2017 at 11:50:35 UTC
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Sentinel-1 CSAR EW acquired on 16 September 2018 at 23:58:54 UTC
Sentinel-3 SRAL LAND acquired on 25 September 2018 at 11:43:14 UTC
Sentinel-3 SRAL LAND acquired on 12 July 2017 at 11:50:35 UTC
...
Sentinel-1 CSAR EW acquired on 16 September 2018 at 23:58:54 UTC
Sentinel-3 SRAL LAND acquired on 25 September 2018 at 11:43:14 UTC
Keyword(s): Climate change, coastal, polar, sea ice, glacier, iceberg, cryosphere, rift, Antarctica Peninsula, Larsen C ice shelf
Dr Martin O'Leary & Adrian Luckman of University Swansea remind the calving of Iceberg A-68 on the MIDAS project blog: "One year ago, Iceberg A-68 calved away from the Larsen C Ice Shelf. One quarter the size of Wales, and weighing more than a trillion tonnes, this iceberg has been classified as the sixth largest since records began." The event had been highlighted in a past story.
The article featured on the MIDAS project blog adds: "The iceberg has been pushed around by ocean currents, tides and winds, and its northern end has repeatedly been grounded in shallower water near Bawden Ice Rise. These groundings led eventually to further pieces of the iceberg being shattered off in May 2018. Whilst not quite large enough to be given labels themselves, the total area of icebergs lost from A-68 in May was the size of a small city."
Written the 09.07.2018, the MIDAS project blog article commented: "As can be seen in the satellite [images], over the last year A-68 has not drifted far because of dense sea-ice cover in the Weddell Sea."
Mark Brandon, Professor in Polar Oceanography, agreed in his own blog: "At first A68 was slow to move and as I predicted back then, it likely got stuck on the sea bed (we say "grounded"). It has stayed pretty much in the same place through to July 2018."
In his article written late August, he described the latest events: "You can see at between 7-12 July 2018 the weather conditions and ocean currents conspire to swing the trillion tonnes of the giant iceberg A68 in an anticlockwise direction. Sentinel-1 SAR satellite imagery from 29 August 2018 shows that to the north of the iceberg the wind is pushing the sea ice northwards faster than the iceberg is rotating. This has created an area of open water where there is intense sea ice generation happening right now. In the high resolution imagery you can clearly see large frazil ice slicks developing in this open water region."
Finally he predicted: "My guess is that A68a will continue rotating as it is now around that western point, until what is currently the northern edge collides with the Larsen C ice front. It has a spectacular amount of momentum and it's not going to stopped easily. I should think we will see some interesting collisions with the ice shelf in the next few months."
The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency or the European Union.
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024, processed by VisioTerra.
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024, processed by VisioTerra.
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