Another iceberg has broken away from Antarctica, the National Ice Centre has reported.
The berg named D-17 broke off from the Lazarev ice shelf, a large sheet of glacial ice and snow extending from the Antarctic mainland into the southeastern Weddell Sea.
The new iceberg is 55.5 kms long and 11 kms wide, about the same size as St Lucia island in the Caribbean Sea. It was observed on an image collected by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Programme.
Icebergs are named for the area quadrant of Antarctica where they appear. D-17 is the 17th berg reported since record keeping began in 1976. Just last week, an iceberg more than twice as large as Luxembourg - called C-19 - broke away from Antarctica, where it is late summer.
In March, another giant berg broke free in an adjacent area. Named B-22, it measured 5,427 square kms. Also in March, a large floating ice shelf in Antarctica collapsed.
However, new measurements indicate the ice in parts of Antarctica is thickening, reversing earlier estimates that the sheet was melting.
Scientists reported in January that new flow measurements for the Ross Ice Streams indicate some of their movement has slowed or halted, allowing the ice to thicken. Researchers don`t know if the thickening is merely part of some short-term fluctuation or represents a reversal of the ice`s long retreat.
Bureau Report
