Discussion: Scientists: Massive Iceberg Has Broken Off In Antarctica

Doesn’t raise sea level by itself, because the ice was already floating, but does pave the way for faster decline of the glaciers behind it.

Also, depending on how and where it breaks up, could perturb global circulation, because fresh water doesn’t sink as easily as salt. Whee.

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They didn’t mention the thickness (depth). I read once that ice shelf can be a mile thick.

You could calculate it from the mass and the area; from the pictures I’ve seen the shelf is at least hundreds of meters thick (other way is to measure the height above water and multiply, and the pix suggest in the very rough neighborhood of 100m)

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Thanks. I confused the ice sheet w the ice shelf when referring to it being a mile thick.