It happened: DF-sized iceberg broke off from Antarctica this week

You must have learned of the huge ice floe that was about to break out of Antarctica into one of the largest icebergs ever recorded, right? We at Mega Curioso even published information about this subject here - you can check it out via this link - but in short it was a huge chunk that was about to come off the Larsen C ice shelf.

Scientists had been following the breakdown of this block of ice for several months, and during the last few weeks the vigil has intensified. For now information has begun to circulate that he has finally - or is it better to say unfortunately? - detached himself. According to news released so far, this happened sometime between Monday, July 10, and today, 12.

Mega iceberg

According to the MIDAS Project researchers, who were following the situation on the ice shelf, the detachment of the block was confirmed by images captured by NASA's Aqua satellite this morning. According to estimates, the iceberg that formed has 5, 800 square kilometers - that is, it is the size of the Federal District! - weighs over one trillion tons and will probably be named A68.

The scientists explained that, despite the sheer volume, as the ice floe was already floating before it detached, now that it has finally let go of the platform, the resulting iceberg should have no immediate impact on sea level. However, it is obvious that not all is good news.

Problems in sight

In fact, although the final phase of breaking this huge chunk of ice was followed for several months, scientists had been monitoring the situation on the Larsen C platform for several years. As they explained, with the detachment, in addition to the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula undergoing a major change in its landscape, the platform will be reduced by more than 12% of its area.

Furthermore, studies have shown that the detachment of the ice block leaves the Larsen C platform in a situation of extreme fragility, as it functioned as a containment barrier that helped to “hold” the flow of glaciers moving from the continent towards the sea.

Thus, the disruption of this containment front could lead to the collapse of the platform - and the problem is that if another barrier does not form (which is a possibility when we consider global warming) the melting of this entire ice will run “loose” towards the ocean can lead to rising sea levels.

With regard to the huge iceberg, scientists said it is difficult to predict what will happen to it. No one can say for sure whether the block will hold in one piece or if it will break into many pieces, for example, and if fragmentation happens, experts believe that some of the ice could remain close to the shelf for decades.

However, there is a possibility that another part of the iceberg fragments will migrate to the north, even reaching the immediate vicinity of the Falkland Islands, a British territory near the Argentine coast, which would pose a risk to maritime traffic. in the region.