A giant iceberg has broken free of the Larson ice shelf in Antarctica. But the term iceberg may not be adequate to describe this monster. More like a mega-berg or tera-berg, because this sucker is bigger than some countries:
Scientists announced Wednesday that a much anticipated break at the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica has occurred, unleashing a massive iceberg that is more than 2,200 square miles in area and weighs a trillion tons.
In other words, the iceberg — among the largest in recorded history to splinter off the Antarctic continent — is close to the size of Delaware and consists of almost four times as much ice as the fast melting ice sheet of Greenland loses in a year. It is expected to be given the name “A68” soon, scientists said.
The Larsen Ice Shelf is a long fringe of ice created by glacier run-off floating on seawater and partly anchored on chains of islands. It rings much of the northwest part of Antarctica and shoots up in a large tongue toward the north. The shelf is broken into several major parts labeled by the letters A through G. Scientists watched in amazement as Larsen A quickly disintegrated in 1995, and Larsen B began to rapidly following suit. This mega-berg actually came off of the Larsen C shelf, and no doubt foreshadows its eventual collapse, as climate change takes its toll down under.