Giant ice island 'go wild'

Australian scientists were stunned to find a giant iceberg drifting wandering the waters of the country.

Photo: Daily Mail.

Daily Mail said that some experts from the Antarctic Research Department of the Australian Ministry of Environment, Water, Heritage and Art discovered icebergs on Thursday when they were working on Macquarie Island (between Antarctica and Australia). Initially the ice block is about 9 km from the island. It is approximately 500 m long and about 50 m high.

Journey of the Antarctic ice block on the map is illustrated in red.
Photo: Daily Mail.

Scientists claim that the phenomenon of ice drift too far away from Antarctica is rare. Neal Young, an Australian Antarctic expert, thinks that the ice sheet may be detached from the Ross ice shelf of Antarctica.

In the past few years, many icebergs have been seen north and over Macquarie Island. But scientists rarely see icebergs too far toward warm waters in the north. They believe that the ice block will melt very quickly during the move into warm water. But before completely melting, it could be a danger for ships and boats.

Macquarie Island is located between Antarctica and Australia.Photo: Daily Mail.

In 2000 many giant ice blocks separated from the Ross and Ronne ice shelves of Antarctica, in which the first block was 300 km long and 37 km wide. Now those ice blocks are still floating on the sea.

Scientists argue that the iceberg scene is becoming more and more evident that the earth is actually warming up, making ice more easily separated from Antarctica.