On the move: Antarctic iceberg the size of Greater London breaks away

A new iceberg has broken from Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf that borders the Antarctic coast of Coats Land between Dawson-Lambton Glacier and Stancomb-Wills Glacier Tongue. The United Kingdom's national polar research institute British Antarctic Survey (BAS) reported the break on January 22, 2023. Photo: BAS

The Brunt Ice Shelf is the location of BAS Halley Research Station. BAS glaciologists, who have been monitoring the behaviour of the ice shelf, say that the area of the ice shelf where the research station is located currently remains unaffected by the recent calving events. Photo: BAS

Satellites have captured several new images of the behemoth berg as it drifts south. The iceberg has an area of 1,550 square kilometres — the second major break-away from the area in the past two years. The event was expected and not related to climate change, BAS scientists said in a press note. Photo: BAS

Large ice sheets around Antarctica do occasionally calve large icebergs, just as part of the natural process of the ice moving towards the sea. The new berg has been named A-81. Photo: BAS

In 2012, satellite monitoring revealed the first signs of change in a chasm (Chasm-1) that had lain dormant for at least 35 years.  Chasm-1 has continued to grow since 2015 and by December 2022 extended across the entire ice shelf marking the beginning of the calving event. Photo: Operational Land Imager

A latest Sentinel-1 radar image of the new iceberg provided by Copernicus EU and ESA Earth observation shows A-81 moving west.