A Second Giant Crack Has Appeared on Antarctica’s Larsen C Ice Shelf

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A Second Giant Crack Has Appeared on Antarctica’s Larsen C Ice Shelf

Rift in the Larsen C ice shelf photographed by NASA’s IceBridge aerial survey in November 2016. Image: NASA/John Sonntag

A 80-mile-long crack along Antarctica’s Larsen C Ice Shelf has remained stable since February, but scientists have now detected a new branch, one that’s extending about six miles from the main rift. It seems like only a matter of time before the 2,000 square mile ice shelf plunges into the sea.

Geologists with Project MIDAS, a UK-based research project studying the effects of melting on the Larsen C ice shelf, have been monitoring the crack for several years now, but the rift experienced a sudden growth spurt this past December when it grew by 12 miles (20 km). In January, the crack advanced another six miles (10 km) over the course of two weeks. The Larsen C Ice Shelf is fully expected to collapse, or calve, at which time it will lose more than 10 percent of its ice surface area (a region roughly the size of Delaware). The latest observations suggest this monumental event may happen sooner rather than later