The Antarctic iceberg is 267 km2 wide and continues to crack

Satellite images show that splitting from Pine Island glacier is decaying into many small pieces.

Icebergs are more than four times larger than New York's Manhattan area separated from, Antarctica two months ago, breaking into small pieces, Science Alert reported yesterday.

The split Antarctic iceberg in September divided into small blocks.(Photo: ESA / BAS).

The glacier is about 267 square kilometers, separated from the glacier in the West Antarctic in late September. Scientists predict that the iceberg will float to the South Ocean before it breaks, but it is blocked by thick sea ice. Images from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite show that the iceberg then decays into many small pieces of different sizes.

"The phenomenon of Pine Island glaciers is very disturbing. The ice shelf's separation activity is changing. In 68 years, we witnessed the ice widening and narrowing, a large iceberg detached. and the ice edge returns to the same position , " said Dr. Robert Larter, a geophysicist at the British Antarctic Research Institute.

"The icebergs separated in 2001, 2007 and 2013 are carefully recorded. Each time the edge of the ice is returned to the old position and the ice shelf continues to spread out to the sea. But the thinning of the ice shows soon. later this process changes. That's what we're seeing , " added Dr. Larter.

Pine Island glacier activities from October 2014 - 10/2017.(Video: Science Alert).

Pine Island is the fastest melting glacier in Antarctica, accounting for nearly a quarter of the ice that the continent loses, ie about 45 billion tons of ice per year. The giant iceberg phenomenon that broke out in September was the first time that observers had actually recorded the ice edge since 1947.

"If the ice shelf continues to thin and the ice edge shrinks, the barrier effect for the Pine Island glacier will decrease, which could make the glacier thinner and shrink more," said Dr. Larter. . He also said that Pine Island is the Antarctic glacier that contributes the most to sea level rise.