This image, captured by ENVISAT satellite, shows several icebergs in the Amery Sea on July 23, 2008. The imagery clearly shows iceberg D-15 fasten to the West Ice Shelf and iceberg D-14 fasten to the Polar Record Glacier. Icebergs B-15B, B-15R, B-15T are grounded and B-15N is drifting. The icebergs B-15B, B-15R, B-15T and B-15N are the remnants of the original iceberg B-15 that had calved off the Ross Ice Shelf on March of 2000. It was initially located at 78.20S 170.38W and measured 158NM long by 20NM wide. Within those eight years, parts of the iceberg B-15 approximately 15 named icebergs traveled from the Ross Sea to the Amery Sea and other regions of the Antarctic. Nevertheless, pieces of the iceberg B-15 are still positioned in the Ross Sea.

 

History of B-15

Figure 2: Icebergs B-15, B-16 Calve Off Ross Ice Shelf

Previous Press release……
March 23, 2000, Washington, D.C. – The National Ice Center (NIC) has been tracking a large iceberg newly calved from the Ross Ice Shelf (Figure 1). The Ross Ice Shelf, the largest ice shelf in Antarctica, is a massive sheet of glacial ice and snow extending from the Eastern Antarctic mainland into the southern Ross Sea. This new iceberg B-15, and a smaller companion B-16, are currently located at 78 20S / 170 38W and 78 05S / 177 13W, respectively. Iceberg B-15, roughly 158 NM long by 20 NM wide, covers an area of approximately 10915 square km, and is about as long as the State of Maryland. Iceberg B-16 is 20 NM long by 08 NM wide. The larger iceberg, B-15, was discovered initially by National Science Foundation forecasters in McMurdo Sound on March 17, 2000, and reported to NIC for verification. The satellite image shown below from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s (DMSP) Operational Line Scan (OLS) infrared sensor.