Pine island glaciers vast crack, pictured via nasa satellite late last fall. A massive crack runs about 29 kilometers 18 miles across the pine island glaciers floating tongue, marking the moment of creation for a new iceberg that will span about 880 square kilometers 340 square miles once it breaks loose from the glacier. The pine island glacier is the largest discharger of ice in antarctica and the continents fastest moving glacier. Antarctic glacier calves iceberg onefourth size of rhode. The crack happened in october 2011, and scientists think that part of the glacier will break off and become an enormous iceberg though. Iceberg half the size of greater london calves off. A massive crack in pine island glacier is steadily. Fastflowing ice streams draining the wais pine island glacier and thwaites glacier in particular into the amundsen sea have a grounding line on a. Pine island glaciers retreat irreversible bbc news. Birth of a large iceberg in pine island bay, antarctica.
Pine island glacier nasa earth observatory image by jesse. New cracks in pine island glaciera huge crack which was discovered last october in pine island glacier has propagated into a series of cracks during the antarctic winter. Antarctica glaciers retreat unprecedented technology. Channel beneath pine island glacier nasa image from october 2011 showing a large crack across the glacier. The scientists are halfway through their 2012 antarctic campaign. The glacier ice streams flow westnorthwest along the south side of the hudson mountains into pine island bay, amundsen sea, antarctica. Scientists just showed what it truly means when a huge antarctic glacier is unstable. The second image below is a profile of depth under pine island glacier from shepard et al, 2001that indicates that beyond the grounding line the depth remains more than meters below sea level for approximately 200 km. The loss was tiny compared to the icebergs that broke off in 2014 and 2015, but the event is further evidence of the ice. It flows, together with thwaites ice stream, into the amundsen sea embayment in west antarctica, and the two ice streams together drain 5% of the antarctic ice sheet 1. In august 20 an iceberg, six times the size of manhattan, calved off of pine island glacier. Its a matter of weeks before a delawaresized iceberg hits the high seas. Sensitivity of pine island glacier to observed ocean forcing.
Once satellite measurementsof antarctica started to accumulate and we began to see which places werechanging, this area lit up as a spot where there was a large change going on,bindschadler said. Pine island glacier is one of the largest ice streams in antarctica. Key glacier in antarctica is cracking from the inside out. This week a radar instrument on the german satellite terrasarx captured an image of a. Pine island glacier, the longest and fastest flowing ice stream in the antarctic, is now very probably in a headlong, selfsustaining retreat, say scientists. Pdf pine island glacier ice shelf melt distributed at. In midoctober 2011, nasa scientists discovered a crack in antarcticas pine island glacier, where a new iceberg is getting ready to break off. In just a month, a large iceberg from antarcticas pine island glacier has disintegrated. Pine island glacier grew between october 2011 and september 2012.
Since the drama of 2010 and 2012, another large crack has begun to open and stretch toward the center of petermanns ice shelf which suggests the shelf could lose another large ice island. A massive crack in pine island glacier is steadily growing, as seen in a. Pine island glacier and ice sheet stability in west antarctica the istar programme science integration meeting. Nasa earth observatory 2012, february 29 earth matters. Grounding line retreat could lead to the glacier retreating into this basin, not a stable situation. Pine island glacier is of particular interest to scientists because it is big and unstable and so is.
Ice shelves are melting from the bottom up, studies show. It was mapped by the united states geological survey usgs from surveys and united states navy usn air photos. In the austral summer of 2012 20 scientists and support staff spent 6 weeks camped on antarcticas pine island glacier. Flying through a crack in the ice nasa earth observatory. Since october 2011, the evolution of the pine island glacier terminus area has been monitored more intensively, said dana floricioiu, a dlr research scientist, oberpfaffenhofen, germany. Underlying ocean melts ice shelf, speeds up glacier movement date. That giant crack in antarctica just keeps getting bigger. A giant iceberg in west antarctica is disintegrating, and scientists are worried. In 2015, a 225squaremile iceberg in antarctica made the headlines when it parted ways with its mother, the pine island glacier. Antarcticas pine island glacier cracks live science. Pine island glacier pig is the fastest melting glacier in antarcticaone thats responsible for a quarter of the frozen continents ice loss, around 45 billion tons of ice each year. Giant crack in antarctica about to spawn new yorksize iceberg. The crack in the pine island glacier is just the latest in a series of symptoms affecting the antarctic, which is the worlds largest reservoir. Pine island glacier in retreat nasa earth observatory.
A second crack produced an iceberg that is 30 square kilometers large and enclosed by the bigger iceberg, which is still attached to the ice. I had hoped to tell a different tale the past two months one of successful science being done in a harsh, remote place by hardy individuals dedicated to getting information that had direct relevance to your lives and the lives of others you know and will never know. A recent study of antarcticas pine island glacier showed that subsurface cracks in the. The west antarctic ice sheet wais is the worlds most vulnerable ice sheet. Mysterious new crack in greenland glacier revealed in nasa. This crack, which extends at least 18 miles and is 50 meters deep, could. The pencilthin line across the satellite image of pine island glacier above is actually a crack more than 18 miles long, 800. In midoctober 2011, nasa scientists working in antarctica discovered a massive crack across the pine island glacier, a major ice stream that drains the west antarctic ice sheet. In october, 2011, nasas operation icebridge discovered a major rift in the pine island glacier in western antarctica.
Pine island glacier and ice sheet stability in west antarctica. Pine island glacier pig is a large ice stream, and the fastest melting glacier in antarctica, responsible for about 25% of antarcticas ice loss. Sensitivity of pine island glacier to observed ocean forcing knut christianson1. When the fastest melting glacier in antarctica surrenders itself to the ocean, the results can be pretty dramatic to watch and, as scientists explain, worrying. Media in category pine island glacier the following 39 files are in this category, out of 39 total. As anticipated, pine island glacier, known as pig for short. The pine island glacier and its partner, the thwaites. Large cracks are forming farther upstream from the ice front than ever. When icebridge scientists returned to pine island glacier in october of 2012, the rift had widened and was joined by a second crack first spotted that may. Antarctica is so vast that the pictures give you no sense of scale. Pine island glacier ice shelf draft calculated from a surface digital elevation model derived from worldview satellite stereoscopic optical imagery moratto et al. Scientists just found a strange and worrying crack in one. Pine island glacier grounding line updated 2012 from a.
We offer several different super jeep tours spanning the length and breadth of iceland. Four fast facts about pine island glacier it drains an area equivalent to two thirds the size of the united kingdom. Pine island glacier ice shelf melt distributed at kilometre scales. If you want to see the land of fire and ice in comfort, safety, and style, then a super jeep is the way to go. This is because it is grounded below sea level, and marine ice sheets such as these are susceptible to rapid melting at their base. Pine island glacier pig is a large ice stream, and the fastest melting glacier in antarctica.
A giant iceberg in west antarctica is disintegrating, and. Pine island glacier underwent rapid melt 8000 years ago. In the multiangle composite, the crack and other stress fractures show up very clearly in bright orange. Christchurch new zealand, 18 january this will be my last entry in this seasons blog. Four months later, the icebridge team has mapped the crack in antarcticas pine island glacier in a way that allows glaciologists and the rest of us to fly through the icy canyon. A new iceberg calved from pine island glacier one of the main outlets where ice from the interior of the west antarctic ice sheet flows into the ocean. Even so, when a large crack formed across the glacier in mid 2000, it was surprising how fast the crack expanded, 15 meters per day, and how soon the resulting iceberg broke off, midnovember, 2001. A primary source is from pine island glacier, which has thinned since at least 1992, driven by changes in ocean heat. An iceberg half the size of greater london has calved off pine island glacier in the antarctic. Icebridge flew a second mission to the pine island region on wed. Mysterious new crack in greenland glacier revealed in nasa photos. These trips encompass a bunch of different places guaranteed to. Pine island glacier is one of the fastestretreating glaciers in antarctica.
For the last year, the pine island glacier in western antarctica has been seemingly poised to calve off a giant iceberg, or icebergs, that in total would represent an area the size of new york city. In october 2011, researchers flying in nasas operation icebridge campaign made the firstever detailed, airborne measurements of a major iceberg calving event while it was in progress. Pine island glacier has long been on the radar screen of antarcticresearchers. Pine island glacier has shed another block of ice into antarctic waters. Alaskan glacier calving columbia with epic 200 foot high shooter and valdez glacier blue pools duration. We were part of a small group that ascended the f road in the glacier jeeps van. Pine island glacier, west antarctica, shortly before losing an enormous iceberg. Pine island glacier right and thwaites glacier middle in december 2012, as seen by the modis instrument on nasas terra satellite. Extending for 19 miles 30 kilometers, the crack was 260 feet 80 meters wide and 195 feet 60 meters deep. Cracks that spread across the floating ice for months have finally spawned new.
Newer images will no doubt show these cracks more clearly as the sun rises higher in the antarctic skies. New iceberg calved from pine island glacier sciencedaily. It is the most rapidly shrinking glacier on the planet and is contributing. Banking over the edge of pine island glacier ice shelf 6305643431. This event was preceded by the formation of a large crack across the glacier in mid 2000. In the 20112012 field season, after five weeks of delays, the camp staff was finally able to establish the main camp. Crack in the pine island glacier nasa earth observatory. What were witnessing on pine island glacier is worrying. Snaking across the floating tongue of the pine island glacier in west antarctica, the crack is expected to create an iceberg 350 square miles 907 square kilometersversus 303 square miles 785. Glacier jeeps hofn 2020 all you need to know before. Click on the grey box links to switch between ice velocity products from the 244 different sentinel1 image pairs for pine island glacier from the first image pair starting on 15. Radar observations of pine island glacier in the 1990s showed the glacier to be shrinking, and the newly discovered crack is expected to eventually lead to the calving of a major iceberg. B31 which measures 32 kilometres by 19 kilometres with a height of 500 metres is under nasa observation as it continues to drift to sea nasa is paying close attention to the pine island glacier as evidence suggests even faster loss of ice in the future. The recent satellite image below shows the new cracks.
223 476 259 1573 906 259 1095 493 1002 1601 630 472 1186 1392 353 866 1364 1138 294 723 849 800 1172 1085 738 540 1088 59 836 1452 133 1135 477