ANTARCTICA – 13 March 2023. This is the first footage of the massive A81 iceberg that calved from the Brunt Ice Shelf in late January 2023. The iceberg is the size of Greater London.
As the summer team left the nearby British Antarctic Survey Halley Research Station they witnessed the start of the iceberg’s journey into the Weddell Sea.
A81 broke free when a large crack in the ice, called Chasm-1, extended across the entire ice shelf. The iceberg is on the move and is now 150km away from where it broke off.
The Brunt Ice Shelf is one of the most closely monitored ice shelves on the planet and is home to Halley Research Station. In fact, Halley used to be located on what is now the A81 iceberg, before a major operation was launched in 2016 to relocate the station 23km inland.
The calving has been long expected by scientists, who say this is a natural process in the lifecycle of a glacier. This is the second major iceberg to come from the region in two years. Monitoring by British Antarctic Survey glaciologists shows that the research station area currently remains largely unaffected by the calving event.
➡ Read this news story on the British Antarctic Survey website:
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The polar regions may be at the ends of the Earth, but what happens there affects us all. We're committed to understanding our planet - and how humans are impacting the future of our home. British Antarctic Survey carries out and supports polar science for the UK, and in collaboration with science communities around the world.
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