Greater London-sized iceberg-sized chunk of an Antarctic ice shelf has broken off. Researchers noted the most recent occurrence on Monday and noted that this is the second such break in around two years. The break occurred close to the Halley Research Station, a British station in Antarctica. Glaciologists at the research station claim that the facility is untouched by the incident, nevertheless.
The facility’s 21 active staff members continue to manage and maintain the base’s scientific equipment. According to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the area is 598 square miles or 1,550 square kilometres. About ten years after geologists discovered Chasm-1, it broke off from the 150-meter-thick Brunt Ice Shelf.
Iceberg calved “following years of naturally occurring cracks that finally extended across the shelf”
Citing the research institute, Reuters reports that the iceberg calved “following years of naturally occurring cracks that finally extended across the shelf and caused the new iceberg to break free”. “This calving event has been expected and is part of the natural behaviour of the Brunt Ice Shelf,” said BAS glaciologist Dominic Hodgson. “It is not linked to climate change,” he added.
According to Science Alert, the widening of the Chasm-1 necessitated moving the Halley VI Research Station in 2016–17. According to reports, the research facility was in danger of being cut off at the moment that fissures began to form in the ice. Since the moving staff is stationed there from November to March when the Antarctic summer lasts. They work remotely the rest of the year, except when it is below minus 50 degrees Celsius (-58 degrees Fahrenheit) and it is completely dark.
Ice chunks from a glacier’s edge “calve,” or break off and fall into the water, in a natural process
Ice chunks from a glacier’s edge “calve,” or break off and fall into the water, in a natural process. In the last two years, there have been two significant calves born. Previously, in May 2021, an iceberg from the Ronne Ice Shelf that was four times the size of Abu Dhabi broke free and sank into the ocean in Antarctica.