Latest satellite images of drifting iceberg off Antarctica

Описание: (19 Jan 2005)

NASA TV - 18 January 2005

1. NASA images and animation showing B-15 iceberg shifting and colliding with the Drygalski Ice Tongue
2. Reverse image of B-15 and the Drygalski Ice Tongue after the collision

STORYLINE:

The MODIS instrument (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites captured several images of the shifting B-15A iceberg between November 9 and January 17, 2005.

The NASA animation released demonstrates that the iceberg is comparable in size to Long Island, New York.

The subsequent satellite images reveal that the B-15A iceberg has drifted away from the Drygalski Ice Tongue.

The massive iceberg had been on course to strike the ice tongue in what would have been a huge slop-motion collision.

The Drygalski Ice Tongue is a floating extension of a land-based glacier.

Such ice tongues have been known to break under smaller strains, and according to NASA scientist Robert Bindschadler, the Drygalski Ice Tongue has never experienced a blow of the magnitude that B-15A could deliver.

The iceberg had been moving steadily towards the ice tongue, but its movement slowed in late December.

Just as the gap between the two narrowed to less than 2.5 miles (4 kilometres) , the iceberg rotated slightly and may have become grounded.

By January 13, the gap widened as the iceberg appeared to reverse its course, perhaps in response to being grounded, says Bindschadler

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