A 160-mile-long floating iceberg is moving toward the Antarctic ice sheet, and may break it. NASA scientists say that the collision, a rare and extreme event, will occur by January 15
Coordinator, Avi Blizovsky
An oversized floating iceberg is on a collision course with an ice tongue near the McMurdo Research Station in Antarctica. NASA satellites have detected a 160-kilometer-long glacier, known as B-15A, advancing toward the Drygalsky Ice Tongue. The glacier's progress has slowed in recent days, but NASA scientists predict that the collision will occur no later than the 15th In January this year.
"This is a collision of titans, a rare and radical event," said Robert Bindschedler, a researcher at NASA's Goddard Center. "Even a slight tap of the glacier is of tremendous force. This collision will certainly be more powerful than the ice tongue has ever experienced."
Advertisement When the ice tongue and the glacier collide, the impact will likely "cause a dent in the 'bumper,'" Bindschedler says. The edges may "wrinkle", and ice may accumulate or drift into the sea. If the B-15A Iceberg gains enough speed before impact, the spectacle could be much more spectacular. The Drygalsky Ice Tongue can break.
An ice tongue is dense and thick ice that has accumulated in the sea in Antarctica, around a glacier with a continental base. The area of the B-15A glacier is 3,000 square kilometers, and this "monster" is known as a source of disaster. This is the largest "piece" of a much larger glacier, which broke off in March 2000.
When B15-A meets Drigalski
The block of ice is moving towards the glacier at a speed of one and a half kilometers per day. In three days they will collide (maybe), then the sky is the limit
Scientists are these days closely monitoring the movement of a huge block of ice, floating in the Southern Ice Ocean on a collision course with a glacier. The expected collision should open a sea route to the American research station McMurdo, helping many penguins reach hunting grounds.
Ice block B15-A, which is about 100 km long and made of ice capable of supplying the entire world with drinking water for several months, was once part of ice block B15, which fell off the Ross Ice Shelf off the coast of Antarctica about five years ago. B15-A is slowly drifting into the past The floating tip of the "Drigalsky" glacier has been floating for several months, and now scientists believe that it is most likely that they will collide It is highly probable, given the behavior of the ice block over the past four years," says Australian Antarctic researcher Neil Young.
The US National Research Foundation (NSF) expected the collision to occur before Christmas, while the US space agency (NASA) estimated that the collision would occur by January 15. Today (Monday), Young, who belongs to the Atlantic Collaborative Research Center for Climate and Ecosystems, says that the distance between the ice block and the glacier is about five kilometers, and the block is advancing about one and a half kilometers per day - so the collision is expected to occur on Thursday. However, Young emphasizes that It is not yet certain that there will indeed be a collision, as storms and sea currents may still divert the ice block from its course.
According to Young, a collision, if it occurred, would cause a large chunk to fall off the ice block, allowing it to move away from the Ross Island area, making it easier for icebreakers to reach McMurdo Station, as well as a nearby New Zealand base. In addition, according to him, this situation will greatly shorten the way that the groups of penguins living in the area have to go to the open sea, where they can find food for their offspring and increase the penguin population.
On the other hand, a collision could also knock off a piece of the "Drigalski" glacier, which could increase congestion on the sea route leading to the Italian research station "Marie Zucchelli". Young, who monitors B15-A's movements using NASA and European Space Agency satellites, says the last time a piece fell off the glacier was in 1956. "This is without a doubt the most significant occurrence in this area in a long time," he concludes.
