Anarctic Larsen Ice Shelf: Massive Cleaving Event

The first image shows the Larsen C ice shelf and a massive ice berg that broke off recently. The second image shows the upper half of the broken piece in thermal imaging. Red and yellow correspond with warmer waters in the widening gap. The thermal band also reveals the many small sections of ice cleaving off the main ice berg as it moves into the warmer ocean due to stresses. The optical image reveals many fractures on the surface. The ice berg has an area of 6,400 square kilometers. That's somewhat comparable to the Hawaii's big island or Cyprus. A crack developed last spring and has since grew over the summer. By July, it broke off and has continually moved farther away from the ice shelf. This is important for researchers for wanting to gather data on the seafloor immediately beneath the now removed section of ice shelf, as well as gaining greater insight into the internal structure of ice shelf and thermal stresses. Not to mention, an ice berg of this magnitude may be a hazard to ships and needs to be tracked as it moves farther out into the ocean with a possibility that it might break up into many smaller pieces.