January Calving From Remnants Of Larsen B Ice Shelf 3X The Size Of New York City

[hatrack]

?fm=jpg&fl=progressive&w=660&h=433&fit=fill

An expanse of sea ice more than three times the size of New York City has torn free from Antarctica and broken up in dramatic fashion. For 11 years, in one of the fastest warming regions on Earth, the 1,000-square-mile sheet of floating ice had tenaciously held fast to the coastline of the Antarctic Peninsula.

But then, in just a few days, warm winds racing down from the peninsula's mountains delivered a death blow. Between January 16 and 21, the sea ice fractured and broke free from a coastal indentation known as the Larsen B Embayment, taking with it a Philadelphia-sized chunk of the much sturdier Scar Inlet Ice Shelf. You can see the run up to the event, the breakup itself, and its aftermath, in this animation of satellite images, acquired between January 16 and 31:

?w=660&h=433&fit=pad

An animation of daily images acquired by NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites between January 16 and 31 of 2022 reveals the break up of a vast expanse of Antarctic sea ice. It had been fastened to the shoreline of the Antarctic Peninsula since 2011, helping to hold back the flow of glaciers into the sea. With the sea ice gone, the glaciers likely will accelerate, dumping more ice into the water and thereby helping to raise sea level. (Credit: Images from NASA Worldview. Animation by Tom Yulsman)

"The breakup is the latest in a series of notable events in the Larsen B embayment over the past 20 years," according to NASA. Among these events was the splintering and collapse in 2002 of a larger and far thicker floating slab of ice extending from the land's surface. Called the Larsen B Ice Shelf, it was more than a half mile thick in places. Scientists had never before witnessed such a large and robust ice shelf disintegrate so rapidly. And so the event nearly 20 years ago made headlines around the world, with The Guardian proclaiming, "Antarctica sends 500 billion tonne warning of the effects of global warming."

Before its demise, the Larsen B Ice Shelf had applied back pressure against glaciers flowing out into the embayment. With that back pressure suddenly released by the shelf's breakup, researchers measured a two- to six-fold increase in the speed of the glaciers, as measured at their centerlines.

EDIT

https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/gigantic-expanse-of-sea-ice-breaks-free-from-antarctica-and-disintegrates