Huge Crack In Antarctic Ice Shelf The Size Of Scotland Is Alarming Scientists

A huge crack spreading across ann Antarctic ice shelf nearly the size of Scotland has grown 13 miles in the last five months, leading to fears the entire shelf might disintegrate.

Researchers say it’s now only a matter of time before a large chunk of Larsen C breaks off - leading to the third-largest loss of Antarctic ice in history.

When it ‘calves’, an iceberg more than 2,000 square miles - the size of Delaware in America - could be produced.

Scientists from Project MIDAS - a British Antarctic Survey project involving researchers from several British universities - now fear the entire ice shelf could become unstable.

The researchers write, ‘For almost two years now, we have been tracking the progress of a large rift in the Larsen C Ice Shelf. This rift, which may threaten the stability of Larsen C, has grown significantly and rapidly during the Antarctic polar night, which is now coming to an end. As of August 2016, the rift is now 22km longer than when satellites were last able to observe it in March of this year.

‘As this rift continues to extend, it will eventually cause a large section of the ice shelf to break away as an iceberg.

‘We previously showed that this will remove between nine and twelve percent of the ice shelf area and leave the ice front at its most retreated position ever. The trajectory of the rift now implies that the higher of these two estimates is more likely. Computer modeling suggests that the remaining ice could become unstable, and that Larsen C may follow the example of its neighbour Larsen B, which disintegrated in 2002 following a similar rift-induced calving event.’