A Crack in an Antarctic Ice Shelf Grew 17 Miles in the Last Two Months -
By JUGAL K. PATEL FEB. 7, 2017
A rapidly advancing crack in Antarctica’s fourth-largest ice shelf has scientists concerned that it is getting close to a full break.
Once the crack reaches all the way across the ice shelf, the break will create one of the largest icebergs
ever recorded, according to Project Midas, a research team that has been monitoring the rift since 2014.
The crack in Larsen C now reaches over 100 miles in length, and some parts of it are as wide as two miles.
Sentinel-1 SAR imagery | Captured Jan. 27
Photo by John Sonntag | Captured Nov. 10
“The iceberg is likely to break free within the next few months,” said Adrian J. Luckman
of Swansea University in Wales, who is a lead researcher for Project Midas.
