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Wednesday, February 01, 2012

19-mile crack in the ice breaking away from Antarctica


Link An astonishing photograph taken from outer-space illustrates how an iceberg the size of New York is close to breaking off from Antarctica.

A 19-mile crack in Pine Island Glacier's ice is clearly visible, leading some scientists to speculate that the world's biggest berg could soon be on the move.

The picture, taken by NASA's Terra spacecraft in November 2011 but only released today, shows how the crack is quickly growing. Just a month before it was only 18 miles long.

Pine Island is a huge 30-mile 'tongue' of ice snaking out from the Hudson Mountains to the Amundsen Sea.

It drains the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, and last calved a significant iceberg in 2001. The crack was first photographed by NASA's Operation Ice Bridge last year. Read More

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