6,000 sq.km Antarctic iceberg splits
Source : PIB
GS II : Environment
Why In News?
One of the biggest icebergs ever recorded has just broken away from Antarctica. The giant block is estimated to cover an area of roughly 6,000 sq. km.
About the split
- U.S. satellite observed the berg while passing over a region known as the Larsen C Ice Shelf.
- The new Larsen berg is probably in the top 10 biggest ever recorded.
Larsen C Ice Shelf
- An object measuring some 9,000 sq. km came away in 1986.
- The Larsen C shelf is a mass of floating ice formed by glaciers that have flowed down off the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula into the ocean.
- A large section of the Larsen C shelf broke away in July 2017 to form an iceberg known as A-68.
- After disintegration in the north and the break away of iceberg A-17, it now covers an area of 67,000 square kilometres
Two nearby smaller shelves, Larsen A and Larsen B, disintegrated around the turn of the century and a warming climate very probably had a role in their demise.