"Was expected"

Antarctica: Iceberg the size of Vienna breaks off

Archive image of an iceberg in the Antarctic(Bild: APA/AFP/Chilean Presidency/Handout)

Once again, a large iceberg has broken off the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The chunk measures 380 square kilometers, making it almost the size of Vienna.

It is already the third break-off in this area in the past four years. However, it is most likely not related to climate change, according to a statement from the British Antarctic Survey research station on Tuesday.

Rather, the calving had been expected since a 14-kilometer-long crack suddenly appeared in the ice shelf a few weeks ago. "This calving has been expected since the Halloween crack occurred eight years ago and reduces the total area of the ice shelf to its smallest extent since monitoring began," said researcher Oliver Marsh, who discovered the calving using GPS data. Calving is the term used to describe the break-off of larger ice masses from glaciers that end in the sea or inland waters. The break-off occurred early on Monday morning.

Ice blocks breaking off is a natural process
Ice shelves are sheets of ice floating on the sea that are fed by glaciers and are still connected to them. Although the breaking off of huge blocks of ice is a natural process, scientists are nevertheless alarmed: Over the past two decades, more than half of the twelve ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula have disintegrated or receded significantly.