A giant iceberg that has broken away from the Brunt Glacier can “sit aground” for a long time, and it is also well tracked from satellites and radars of research and working vessels. Alexander Klepikov, head of the Russian Antarctic Expedition of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute of Roshydromet, announced this to Izvestiya on January 25.
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) informed that an iceberg the size of London had broken off the Brant Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
Klepikov noted that there are several possible scenarios for the further fate of the iceberg.
“It broke away from a glacier on the southern coast of the Weddell Sea and can “sit aground” for quite a long time. It can, under the influence of currents, travel first to the west, and then to the north, and gradually, under the influence of sunlight, warmer waters, temperature changes, and also from the impact of waves, collapse, ”the scientist pointed out.
However, given the currents in the Weddell Sea, the movement of the iceberg will not be rapid, the specialist is convinced.
“It does not pose any danger to shipping. Under modern conditions, the iceberg is easily tracked from satellites and is perfectly visible on the radars of research and work vessels,” Klepikov said.
He compared the size of the iceberg – estimated at 1,550 square kilometers – to the size of St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest metropolis, at 1,439 square kilometers.
The head of the Russian Antarctic Expedition noted that iceberg breaks occur regularly in Antarctica, and from time to time breaks of very large ice blocks occur. Three hundred kilometers from the Russian Antarctic station Vostok, an ice watershed was discovered – from this point, the ice moves to the edges of the mainland. Gradually, ice blocks begin to hang over the edge of the land and periodically break off. The sizes of spalls can be both small and gigantic.
In an interview with Izvestia, Igor Shkradyuk, coordinator of the program for the greening of industry at the Center for Wildlife Conservation, agreed with the opinion that the appearance of a large iceberg would not have any special consequences. As the expert is convinced, the iceberg will drift downstream for several months and gradually melt, eventually melting completely.
“Somewhere since the seventies of the XX century, projects have been born to take the iceberg in tow and take it to where there is little water. For example, to the Persian Gulf to provide fresh water. But such a project never came to practical implementation. The weight of the iceberg that has now broken off is many times greater than the largest tankers can carry. So far, there are no tugboats to transport this iceberg somewhere,” Shkradyuk said.
As BAS explained earlier, the iceberg broke off after cracks that had developed naturally over the past few years had spread across the entire ice shelf.
It is also noted that there is a research station of the British Antarctic Survey on the glacier. The location of the scientists was not affected. According to them, the breaking off of the iceberg was expected, but the consequences of this can be unpredictable. Experts will continue to track the movement of the new iceberg. It will be given a name later.
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