New Large Iceberg Breaks off Antarctica

A new iceberg about twice the size of Dallas broke a barrier of Antarctic ice, scientists said on Friday.

The event is the latest in a series of breaks in the Larsen B ice shelf, which until recent years has suffered several millennia without such a big change. The break has coincided with warmer temperatures. The new iceberg is listed as A-53.

The last case is separate from one in January in which the world's largest known iceberg ran aground in Antarctica, snuggling up to a glacier known as the Drygalski Ice Tongue.

The new iceberg is about 16 by 35 nautical miles, according to the National Ice Center in Suitland, Maryland, which has controlled the satellite images of the Canadian Space Agency. Broke down January 31.

"Some of the icebergs of similar size that have been separated from the Larsen Ice Shelf have remained in the area for some time, while others have traveled to the north," said Sean Helfrich, a NOAA meteorologist at the National Center for ice. "A-53 can not leave the Weddell Sea this year, and can even break into additional icebergs sometime this year."

Iceberg names are derived from Antarctica, where the first quadrant of its vision. 53 A-53 is the card of the iceberg has been discovered in Antarctica in quadrant A, which includes the Bellinghausen / Weddell Sea region.