Antarctica iceberg size8/14/2023 ![]() ![]() In the 2015-16 field season, glaciologists used ice penetrating radar technologies to ‘ground truth’ satellite images and to calculate the most likely path and speed of Chasm 1. This change had implications for the operation of Halley VI Research Station. In 2012, satellite monitoring revealed the first signs of change in a chasm (Chasm-1) that had lain dormant for at least 35 years. There have been six Halley research stations on the Brunt Ice Shelf since 1956. This system has proved effective in running through more than eight months of darkness, extreme cold, high winds and blowing snow and delivering important data back to UK. Over the summer 2018-19, BAS installed an autonomous power generation and management system – Halley Automation project – which provides a suite of scientific instruments with power even when there are no staff at the station. There is no connection to the rapid calving events seen on Larsen C Ice Shelf which had extensive surface meltwater at the time of its collapse, and no evidence that climate change has played a significant role.ĭuring the 2016-17 Antarctic Summer season (Nov-March), in anticipation of calving, the eight station modules were uncoupled and transported by tractor to a safer location upstream of Chasm-1. The changes in the Brunt Ice Shelf are a natural process. Halley VI Research Station has been unoccupied during the last six winters because of the complex and unpredictable glaciological situation. This floating ice shelf flows at a rate of up to 2 km per year west towards the sea where, at irregular intervals, it calves off icebergs. Halley VI Research Station sits on Antarctica’s up to 150-m thick Brunt Ice Shelf. In 2013, the station attained the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) Global station status, becoming the 29 th in the world and 3 rd in Antarctica. Halley VI Research Station is an internationally important platform for atmospheric and space weather observation in a climate-sensitive zone. Our science and operational teams continue to monitor the ice shelf in real-time to ensure it is safe, and to maintain the delivery of the science we undertake at Halley”. “This calving event has been expected and is part of the natural behaviour of the Brunt Ice Shelf. Professor Dominic Hodgson, BAS glaciologist adds: All data are sent back to Cambridge for analysis, so we know what is happening even in the Antarctic winter – when there are no staff on the station, it is dark for 24 hours and the temperature falls below minus 50 degrees C (or -58F).” Halley VI Research Station on the Brunt Ice Shelf. These measure how the ice shelf is deforming and moving, and are compared to satellite images from ESA, NASA and the German satellite TerraSAR-X. Measurements of the ice shelf are carried out multiple times a day using an automated network of high-precision GPS instruments that surround the station. “ Our glaciologists and operations teams have been anticipating this event. Professor Dame Jane Francis, Director of BAS says: Currently 21 staff are on station working to maintain the power supplies and facilities that keep the scientific experiments operating remotely through the winter. Their work will continue until they are collected by aircraft around 6 February. Since 2017, staff have been deployed to the station only during the Antarctic summer (between November to March). In 2016, BAS took the precaution of relocating Halley Research Station 23 km inland of Chasm-1 after it began to widen. ![]() ![]() The glaciological structure of the Brunt Ice Shelf is complex, and the impact of calving events is unpredictable. BAS glaciologists, who have been monitoring the behaviour of the ice shelf, say that the area of the ice shelf where the research station is located currently remains unaffected by the recent calving events. ![]() The Brunt Ice Shelf is the location of BAS Halley Research Station. Chasm-1 remained dormant for many years but has now created a new iceberg. The break off is the second major calving from this area in the last two years and has taken place a decade after scientists at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) first detected growth of vast cracks in the ice. The iceberg calved when the crack known as Chasm-1 fully extended through the ice shelf. It calved after cracks that have been developing naturally over the last few years extended across the entire ice shelf, causing the new iceberg to break free. This occurred on Sunday 22 January between 19.00 and 20.00 UTC during a spring tide. A huge iceberg (1550 km²), almost the size of Greater London, has broken off the 150m thick Brunt Ice Shelf. ![]()
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