The iceberg breaks free
The iceberg breaks free
A small island obstructs the constant flow of the ice shelf on Queen Maud Land – it is the lighter area at the bottom left of the image. From September 2010 until it broke off, Iceberg A 62 was connected to the Fimbul Ice Shelf by a mere 800-metre-wide bridge. Two fissures in the ice from different sides of the bridge approached one another until the break occurred. The images transmitted by the radar satellite TerraSAR-X over a long period of time should enable researchers to achieve a better understanding of how icebergs calve. Until now, glaciologists have not been able to predict where and how much ice will break away each year.
