A Delaware-sized iceberg crack shocks the world a few days ago. Now, it is very close to split one of Antarctica's largest ice shelves.
Telegraph reported that a fast-growing crack in the Antarctic iceberg has now stretched to 8 miles or almost 13 kilometers in the open ocean. Now, the iceberg crack is about a Delaware-size and is expected to create an ice sheet that is 300,000 times the size of the iceberg that sunk the Titanic in 1912.
According to Business Insider, the Delaware-sized Antarctic iceberg has been there for thousands of years. Now, the crack has formed and accelerated in the Southern Ocean which scientists frightened of on snapping off the block.
US Geological Survey scientist, Dan McGrath said that the process of cracking of the Delaware-sized Antarctic iceberg won't be long. "I would expect the Larsen C to occur quite rapidly, within days or weeks," McGrath said.
In the just as short period as six days, from May 24 to May 31, the Antarctic iceberg crack lengthened 11 miles with a standing 8 miles of ice between the huge iceberg. Scientists Adrian Luckman and Martin O'Leary revealed the real situation of the Delaware-sized Antarctic iceberg crack. "The rift tip appears also to have turned significantly towards the ice front, indicating that the time of calving is probably very close," the two scientists noted.
Additionally, scientists believe that the forming of an Antarctic iceberg in the region is relatively linked to global warming. Thus, the 1,900 square mile ice chunk in the region would cause the Larsen C ice shelf to be completely broken. When such event happens, the Larsen C would shrink at the rate of 10 percent.
For the Impact of Melt on Ice Shelf Dynamics and Stability project or MIDAS has warned in 2015 that if the Antarctic iceberg would be lost, it would create a "significant risk" of the shelf resulting in the unguaranteed larger outcome.
Additionally, the if the Delaware-sized Antarctic iceberg becomes less stable, it could create an event that could raise sea levels by more and more inches. Luckman and O'Leary added, "There appears to be very little to prevent the iceberg from breaking away completely."
