Buzz / Iceberg larger than New York City breaks off in Antarctica, video goes viral

Antarctica: An iceberg bigger than the size of New York City broke off an ice-shelf in Antarctica on Friday.

According to a statement from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the chunk of ice is 1,270 square kilometres in size and it broke free in a process called calving.

Ice-calving or iceberg calving is the process by which ice blocks break away from an ice shelf or the edge of a glacier. It is the sudden release and breaking away of a mass of ice.

A short video showing the calving process and the huge crack on the ice-shelf was shared on Twitter by BAS.

“Brunt Ice Shelf calves along North Rift chasm - A 1270 km² #iceberg has broken off the #BruntIceShelf. #HalleyVI Research Station is closed for the winter and unlikely to be affected,” BAS tweeted along with the video.

Brunt Ice Shelf calves along North Rift chasm - A 1270 km² #iceberg has broken off the #BruntIceShelf.#HalleyVI Research Station is closed for the winter and unlikely to be affected.

Full story: https://t.co/l13QrWdnB0

📽️ #NorthRift, #Antarctica, 16 Feb 2021, @BAS_News pic.twitter.com/QyNt7sVOzT

— British Antarctic Survey (@BAS_News) February 26, 2021

The iceberg broke off on the Burnt Ice Shelf, near Britain's Helley research station, which was completely empty at the time. The 12-person staff of the research centre had left earlier this month after the beginning of the Antarctic winter.

Reports said that scientists had been expecting a bog calving for over a decade now, after having observed large cracks in the ice shelf.

“The first indication that a calving event was imminent came in November 2020 when a new chasm – called North Rift – headed towards another large chasm near the Stancomb-Wills Glacier Tongue 35 km away. North Rift is the third major crack through the ice shelf to become active in the last decade,” BAS wrote in a report on their official site.

"Our teams at BAS have been prepared for the calving of an iceberg from Brunt Ice Shelf for years," Professor Dame Jane Francis, Director of British Antarctic Survey (BAS), said.

BAS is currently monitoring the impact of the calving event, which cannot be easily predicted. Experts have said that calving of this magnitude can cause more blocks of ice to break away from the ice shelf.