NEW ICEBERG BREAKS OFF OF LARSEN
ICE SHELF
Feb.
4, 2005 � A new iceberg, about twice the size of Dallas, Texas, has
formed in the frigid waters around Antarctica, according to the National
Ice Center in Suitland, Md. This latest development comes just three
weeks after the world's largest iceberg, which measured the size of
Long Island, N.Y., came close to crashing into a mammoth glacier, called
the Drygalski Ice Tongue. (Click satellite image for larger
view of iceberg A-53 as seen on Feb. 1, 2005. Click
here for high resolution version, which is a large file. Please
credit “Canadian Space Agency.”)
Using satellite
imagery from the Canadian Space Agency, the NIC discovered the new iceberg,
named A-53, when it broke off from the Larsen Ice Shelf on January 31.
It measures 35 nautical miles on its longest axis and 16 nautical miles
on its widest axis.
The Larsen
Ice Shelf is a large sheet of glacial ice and snow, extending along
the eastern portion of the Palmer Peninsula, within the westernmost
section of the Weddell Sea. A-53 is centered near 67.2S 60.5W.
"Some
icebergs of similar size that have broken off from the Larsen Ice Shelf
have remained in the area for a while, while others have journeyed north,"
said Sean Helfrich, a NOAA meteorologist at the National Ice Center.
"A-53 likely will not leave the Weddell Sea this year, and may
even break off into additional icebergs sometime this year."
Iceberg
names are derived from the Antarctic quadrant where they are first sighted.
When they are first spotted, the NIC documents an iceberg's point of
origin. The iceberg is assigned the letter of the quadrant, along with
the sequential number. For example, A-53 is sequentially the 53rd iceberg
the NIC has tracked in Antarctica between 0-90 W (in the Bellinghausen/Weddell
Sea) in Quadrant A. (Click satellite image for larger view of
iceberg A-53 as seen on Jan. 9, 2005. Click
here for high resolution version, which is a large file. Please
credit “Canadian Space Agency.”)
Located
in Suitland, Md., the National Ice Center is a tri-agency operational
center, represented by NOAA, which is part of the U.S. Department of
Commerce, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard. The NIC mission is
to provide worldwide operational ice analyses for the armed forces of
the United States and allied nations, U.S. government agencies and the
private sector.
NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety
through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events
and providing environmental stewardship of the nation�s coastal and
marine resources. NOAA is part of the U.S.
Department of Commerce.
Relevant Web Sites
National Ice Center
NOAA
Antarctic Photos
Media
Contact:
John
Leslie, NOAA Satellites and
Information Service, (301) 457-5005
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