An iceberg the size of Manhattan adrift in Antarctica - TF1

“An iceberg the size of Manhattan that may constitute a threat to waterways is being monitored by a team of researchers from the University of Sheffield to prevent it constitutes a threat to navigation, “said the university in a statement released Thursday on its website internet.La mass of ice broke away in early July the Pine Island Glacier (West Antarctica), but n ‘ is that since “one or two weeks,” she began to drift towards the austral spring, told AFP Professor Robert Marsh of the University of Southampton, reached by telephone.

“He can approach the sea routes”

“During the winter (austral note) he was caught in the icy waters and stayed there,” said the researcher. “The main reason we are monitoring this iceberg is that it is very large,” the professor said in a statement on the website of the university. “An iceberg of this size can drift north for a year or more and find themselves near shipping lanes in the Southern Ocean.” An iceberg had drifted into the area and found himself in the South Atlantic, says Professor Grant Bigg, University of Sheffield, said in the statement of the latter.

From its large size, the iceberg could have an impact on the environment during its melting, says Dr. Bigg. “If the iceberg is around the coast of Antarctica, it will melt slowly and add a lot of freshwater coastal current, altering the density and the speed of it,” he says. “Similarly, if it were to move north, it would melt faster and could alter the current flow by creating a layer of freshwater over the denser sea water,” the researcher.
“Accumulation of freshwater with lasting consequences”

Although this iceberg is not large enough to have only a “significant” impact on the environment, “whether these events became more frequent, they could lead to an accumulation of fresh water with lasting consequences” on the environment, says Prof. Bigg. Icebergs the size of the one currently drift off glaciers on average once every two years in the world, but this is the first time that one of them is closely monitored to predict its path, ensures the University of Southampton.
monitoring of the iceberg, conducted by teams of Professor Marsh and Bigg and should last six months, funded by National environment research council (NERC) UK, which has just released in emergency funds. Without being the hottest, the year 2013 was marked by extreme events, as evidenced by the recent typhoon Haiyan, and a record level rise observed in March, announced Wednesday the UN, which is holding its conference Climate in Warsaw.