A block of ice measuring nearly 1,270 square kilometers broke away from the rest of the pack ice in Antarctica early Friday morning, according to data collected by British instruments installed within 20 kilometers of a British research station located in this area.
Evacuated personnel
As a precaution, the twelve people who worked in this station were evacuated in mid-February by plane.
In the months to come, the iceberg, the size of a city like New York, will either recede or be stranded and stay nearby. Teams won’t be returning anytime soon, with the station remaining closed for the remainder of the Arctic winter.
Already in 2017, the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), a research organization on the polar areas that operates the place, decided to reduce the presence in this station built in 2012 and move it a few kilometers, fearing that it would found on a drifting iceberg, following the melting ice.
“Our job now is to closely monitor the situation and assess any potential impact of this detachment on the remaining ice shelf,” said Simon Garrod, director of operations at BAS.
–
