Second Big Iceberg Breaks Off From Antarctica
Copyright ©2000 Reuters Limited
March 31, 2000
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A second giant iceberg has broken off from Antarctica and is bumping into a huge iceberg that broke off the Ross Ice Shelf last week, researchers said on Friday.
Matthew Lazzara of the University of Wisconsin's Antarctic Meteorological Research Center found the latest iceberg, which will be named B-17, while scanning images taken from a satellite orbiting the poles.
He said the new iceberg lies to the north and east of Roosevelt Island and is 80 miles by 12 miles (130 km by 20 km). The larger iceberg is 183 miles by 23 miles (295 km by 37 km), roughly the size of Jamaica.
``The high-resolution satellite data that we receive enables us to track these bergs easily, at least in clear conditions,'' Lazzara said in a statement.
The images show the two giant icebergs, and a third, smaller one known as B-16, jostling one another just off the island.
The researchers said it was not yet clear if the icebergs would pose a threat to shipping.