Those massive icebergs: where are they now?

Australian Antarctic Magazine: Issue 1 described the massive icebergs that calved from the Ross and Ronne Ice Shelves in 2000. Those icebergs have been gradually moving along the paths indicated on the map to the right. The largest remaining section of B15 (B15A) moved west along the front of the Ross Ice Shelf and now spans the gap between Cape Crozier on the eastern end of Ross Island and Franklin Island, 160km north. Another smaller, but still massive iceberg, C16, which calved from the western end of Ross Ice Shelf when B15A hit the shelf, is trapped between B15A and the northern point of Ross Island. They will certainly change the environment for Cape Crozier’s emperor penguins. the rest of the 2000 icebergs have moved out of the Ross Sea and are now spread along the coast between longitudes 152°E and 160°E. The largest, B15B, broke into several sections as it was moving towards Cape Adare. Most of these icebergs are likely to become trapped behind another massive iceberg, B9B, which calved from Ross Ice Shelf in 1987 and is still grounded northeast of Mertz Glacier Tongue around 147°E. In the Weddell Sea, the icebergs A42 and A43, from Ronne Ice Shelf, have moved west along the shelf and north along the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. A43 has broken into several sections,now about halfway along the coast of the peninsula. A42 is still in the southern part of the Weddell Sea.

Neal Young
Australian Antarctic Division

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