Published by the British Antarctic Survey the first aerial images of the large iceberg A81 which detached from the Brunt ice shelf in Antarctica on 22 January: the huge iceberg, which extends over 1,550 square kilometers, traveled 150 kilometers in a southerly direction along the coast line accompanied by other smaller icebergs which have also broken off.
The images were taken by the researchers who left the Halley research station at the end of the summer campaign. Just a few years ago the base was moved 23 kilometers because it was located near the large Chasm-1 crack which gave rise to the A81 iceberg in January.
“This calving was expected,” explains glaciologist Oliver Marsh. “The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has been monitoring the Brunt Ice Shelf and the chasms that have formed within it for more than a decade. Since glaciologists first observed Chasm-1’s enlargement in 2012, Bas’s science and operations teams have been predicting the calving event. High-precision GPS tools and satellite data were used to monitor the widening of the rift, and in 2016 Bas took the precaution of moving Halley Research Station inland to protect it.”
After breaking up, the iceberg turned over and was now moving south. Experts expect it to follow the same path made by previous icebergs swept west by the Antarctic Coastal Current. A81 is the second large iceberg to break off in the region in the past two years, first being the 3,200 square kilometer iceberg A76, which formed in May 2021.
Source: Ansa
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