Antarctica (July 18, 2017): The giant iceberg, A-68 that was produced in the Antarctic last week continues to drift seaward.
All the latest satellite images indicate the gap between the 6,000-sq-km block and the floating Larsen C Ice Shelf from which it calved is widening.
The monster berg – which is a quarter the size of Wales, and one of the biggest ever recorded – is so far behaving as expected.
Theory suggests it should move, in the first instance, down the slope in the ocean surface that has been created by winds in the Weddell Sea pushing water up against the coast. But the leftward deflecting effect of the Coriolis force, produced by the Earth’s rotation, should keep the berg relatively close to the continent’s edge.
it appears as though a large segment of “fast ice” that was attached to the berg has broken free. This fast ice is considerably thinner than the main block – a few metres thick versus the 200-plus-metres of the berg itself.
Related News:
