Huge Crack Discovered in Antarctic Glacier

full story

A huge, emerging crack has been discovered in one of Antarctica's glaciers, with a NASA plane mission providing the first-ever detailed airborne measurements of a major iceberg breakup in progress.

NASA's Operation Ice Bridge, the largest airborne survey of Earth's polar ice ever flown, is in the midst of its third field campaign from Punta Arenas, Chile. The six-year mission will yield an unprecedented three-dimensional view of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, ice shelves and sea ice. The glaciers of the Antarctic, and Greenland, Ice Sheets, commonly birth icebergs that break off from the main ice streams where they flow in to the sea, a process called calving.

The crack was found in c, which last calved a significant iceberg in 2001; some scientists have speculated recently that it was primed to calve again. But until an Oct. 14 IceBridge flight, no one had seen any evidence of the ice shelf beginning to break apart. Since then, a more detailed look back at satellite imagery seems to show the first signs of the crack in early October.

"We are actually now witnessing how it happens and it's very exciting for us," said IceBridge project scientist Michael Studinger of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "It's part of a natural process, but it’s pretty exciting to be here and actually observe it while it happens." Gravity pulls the ice in the glacier westward along Antarctica's Hudson Mountains toward the Amundsen Sea. A floating tongue of ice reaches out 30 miles (48 kilometers) into the Amundsen beyond the grounding line, the below-sea-level point where the ice shelf locks onto the continental bedrock. As ice pushes toward the sea from the interior, inevitably the ice shelf will crack and send a large iceberg free.

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alright. so this thing is massive!

"When the iceberg breaks free, it will cover about 340 square miles (880 square kilometers) of surface area. Radar measurements suggested the ice shelf in the region of the rift is about 1,640 feet (500 meters) feet thick, with only about 160 feet of the shelf floating above water and the rest submerged."

think this trumps the iceberg that broke off (when???) earlier this year?

now what will this do to the already unstable weather patterns?

The article states that the Pine Island Glacier is highly unstable. I am therefore wondering if there is any chance this crack could be linked to the recent Pacific-Antarctic plate earthquakes? I realise the answer is probably no but it would be interesting to discover if there is a link. If so, its just one more thing to worry about!

reply to post by Flavian


i cannot remember where but i have read/heard a couple times from different people/places that there is a theory that the melting caps is what is putting pressure on the plates, causing them to shift, ergo causing EQs. so you culd very well be on to something...

Good catch - and summer's just starting there, right?

S&F&

reply to post by Flavian


yeah...here you go....wiki article

POST GLACIAL REBOUND

I was just reading this, it's interesting.

In one sentence they say it's exciting and it's a "natural process", in the next paragraph they say it is unstable and a source of uncertainty. So which is it?

Text...and I couldn't help but to notice the type in the very first sentence: A huge, emerging crack has been discoered in one of Antarctica's glaciers, with a NASA plane mission providing the first-ever detailed airborne measurements of a major iceberg breakup in progress.

Hi ICEKHOLD!

Could this end up contributing to it?

Increased seismic turbulence seen at the southern pole- 4 days, 4 earthquakes

November 2, 2011 – ANTARCTICA – A 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge region today at the shallow depth of 1.1 km. The earthquake is the fourth earthquake to rattle the southern region of the globe in four consecutive days. On November 1, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck the Western Indian-Antarctica Ridge. On October 31, a 5.1 struck the tectonic plate conjunction of the Southeast East Pacific Rise and on October 30, the Southeast Indian Ridge was hit by a 4.5 magnitude earthquake. Tectonic plate agitation has diffused across the planet over the last 45 days and we’re seeing more unrest in places which typically don’t have earthquakes like the 6.3 magnitude earthquake which struck Revilla Gigedo Island region west of Mexico on November 1. Whether this latest series of earthquakes, shaking the southernmost hemisphere, signals a major shift in planetary seismic stress or a further erosion of planetary magnetism remains to be seen. We will be watching developments very closely over the next few days. –The Extinction Protocol

theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com...

Rainbows
Jane

reply to post by angelchemuel


hey there lady!

could very well be related. nice find. i mean...this is Mom we're talking about so i would assume it's all related, just in ways that our finite understanding won't allow us to grasp. but it would seem logical that the 2 are related!

reply to post by ICEKOHLD


Brilliant, thanks for the link. I don't like the fact that there is a map of Britain on the link! Im in a sinking area

On the plus side, im at the edge so sea front property is always a bonus!

To Skorpiogurl, i think the article is basically that the ice sheets itself is unstable. This makes sense when you look at, for example, geology - some rocks are much more stable than others. This must be the same for all natural features in my opinion (but i may be wrong)

I woudn't jump on whole "global warming melting icebergs" wagon just yet. For multiple reasons, most important: it's an act of nature, therefore we can't understand it, unless we possess "bigger image". And we don't, time we spent on closely observing weather anomalies is not even blink of an eye in our planet's life.

It's like in the movie "The day after tomorrow"

S&F

reply to post by ICEKOHLD


There's been afew EQKs of late downunder in the Antartica so I'm not surprised

Does it state where this glacier is? The quakes were on the Australian side (and thats as exact as im getting! ) so if the glacier is on the other side it may not be related (largest quake was a 6 point something).

Not that im trying to debunk myself or anything!

These type of things are becoming regular. I'm not to sure how "natural" they are though.
Here's one from Feburary 2010 summer time down here.

The 2,500 sq km (965 sq mile) iceberg broke off earlier this month from the Mertz Glacier's 160 km (100 miles) floating tongue of ice that sticks out into the Southern Ocean.

Link

There has been more over previous years, I can remember a news story about iceburgs floating past
New Zealand.

There is a large hole in the ozone layer above the antartic, Fun times ahead for sure.

The hole in the ozone layer is about 21 million square kilometers according to the graph

on this site

ozone hole




For those who cant be bothered clicking a link here is a pretty picture of just how fncked we all are




Have a nice day

i just wish that they would go ahead and tell us what's about to happen!!!

they already know that we're obviously hip to something coming. they know that there are large numbers of us paying attention to everything. they know that there are scores of us prepared for many things.

why not just go ahead and say:

ok...look. the ice caps are about to melt, there's like 20 viruses that are frozen under the ice that's going to kill 30% of the population. the poles are gonna shift and giant tsunamis are gonna wipe out anyone living within 100 miles of the coast. food...uh...we're about to run out. new madrid...get ready. iran...we're about to wipe you off the map. and...all the "money" that you've been "paying" in "taxes"...really...we just used that money to ensure our survival. yellowstone is about to blow. aliens...they're gonna scoop some of y'all up cuz the species must survive and they have already contacted their chosen...they know who they are. BP and fukishima and Monsanto...that's to sterilize and kill the rest of you pawns. yeah...eugenics works. oh yeah...one more thing...I"M NOT AMERICAN!!!

peace,
o-dawg


i hate the secrecy. i'm already thinking of and planning for the end of the world...so what's the harm in confirming? and if i'm just paranoid...why not shoot me some knowledge and truth and let me see that there's nothing to worry about?

The crack was first noticed October 14, so any earthquakes since then would be unrelated to the crack forming. Although the recent ones may help shake it free by physically shaking or wave action.

It is already floating in the water so when it finally breaks loose it won't have any effect on sea level. I think its effect on glacial rebound pretty much ended when this portion started floating.

It won’t affect world wide climate if that’s what you are asking. 880 square kilometers is nothing compared to the 11,000 square kilometer monster that was B-15.

What I think the article is mainly about is the excitement of witnessing the beginning of a large calving event. And to be able to prove out the equipment they have been developing for an event like this.

Great topic for a thread!

people leaving on the coast should start evacuating soon , because mother Earth is mad

reply to post by ICEKOHLD


Are you feeling okay or did I misunderstand the topic? I thought it was about the calving event not some secrecy conspiracy.

In any event I’m out of this one, have a great day all!