From the shelf at the South Pole broke giant glacier

From the shelf at the South Pole broke giant glacier

        From the glacier on the Antarctic island of Pine Island iceberg broke off an area slightly smaller than the area of Moscow. Scientists have been waiting for this event for almost two years. Scientists have discovered a growing rift in the glacier in October 2011 and since then were waiting for a huge plateau completely separate from the glacier and will be able to sail on the ocean, according to the corporation  BBC BBC .

       On Monday, the companion of the German TerraSAR-X saw that the crack came from one edge of the glacier to the other. German radar satellite armed with which can scan the surface even as the Antarctic polar winter. Area breakaway iceberg scientists estimate about 720 square kilometers. Moscow area (without attached in 2012, forests and fields) - about a thousand square kilometers. The new iceberg was quickly sliding down the front edge of the ice shelf to the ocean.

        Giant icebergs break off from ice shelves in Antarctica every 6-10 years. Last time such like ice plateau went to sea in 2007 and 2001. Scientists emphasize that the drift ice in the ocean and the formation of icebergs - a completely normal process and is not associated with climate change, which, however, Antarctica is also clearly visible.

       When scientists discovered a crack in the Pine Island Glacier, they thought that the iceberg will break away after a few months, sometime in early 2012.

        Professor Angelika Humbert from the German Alfred Wegener Institute told the BBC BBC that for the scientists was to some extent a surprise that as a result had to wait almost two years. Now the fun part, said Professor Humbert, to see how long it takes an iceberg to swim out of the bay to the ocean. It may take months.

       The largest of the registered icebergs broke off from the ice shelf in Antarctica in 2001. Its area was 11,000 square kilometers. It was drifting ice plateau in the Southern Ocean for several years, until melted. Pine Island - one of the largest and most moving Antarctic glaciers that descend to the ocean. Scientists estimate that there is formed about 10% of the iceberg of the West Antarctic ice sheet.

       "Pine Island glacier is losing more ice than any other glacier on the planet, and its contribution to global sea level more than any other glacier, so it is worth exploring," - explained Professor David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey services.