Tag: larsen ice shelf

Massive iceberg threatens remote penguin sanctuary

by Eléonore HUGHES Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The world’s biggest iceberg is on a collision course with a remote South Atlantic island that is home to thousands of penguins and seals, and could impede their ability to gather food, scientists told AFP Wednesday. Icebergs naturally break off from Antarctica into the ocean, but climate change has accelerated the process — in this case, with potentially devastating consequences for abundant wildlife in the British […]

Scientists set off to explore new Antarctic ecosystem

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — A team of international scientists led by the British Antarctic Survey set off on Wednesday to explore a mysterious marine ecosystem that has lain hidden under an ice shelf for up to 120,000 years. The BAS said that an iceberg known as A68 broke off from the Larsen Ice Shelf in July 2017, revealing a section of seabed measuring 5,818 square kilometers (2,245 square miles) — nearly four times the […]

Huge Antarctic ice block set to break off: scientists

by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – A massive ice block nearly 100 times the area of Manhattan is poised to break off Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf, scientists reported Friday. A slow-progressing rift suddenly grew by 18 kilometres (11 miles) at the end of December, leaving the finger-shaped chunk — 350 metres thick — connected along only a small fraction of its length. The rift has also widened, from less than 50 […]