A gigantic iceberg of the size of Luxembourg, measuring 985 square-miles (2,550 square-kilometres) in surface area and some 400 metres (1,300 feet) thick, broke off from the Mertz Glacier Tongue along the eastern coast of Antarctica on February 12th or 13th after being hit by another huge iceberg known as B9B.
B9B, which split of in 1987, is another massive iceberg which is almost the same size and is 97 kilometre-long. Both these icebergs are now floating along the Antarctic coast and have moved into an area called polynya. Polynya is an area where the sea water is dense, super cold and has high salt content that eventually sinks to the bottom of the sea and starts a process that fuels the movement of global ocean currents.
This incident was detected recently by Australian and French researchers and scientists are keeping a close watch on the condition, as both icebergs could easily block the production of this dense water, eventually putting a lid on the polynya, and alter the flow of ocean currents. How ever if the icebergs move east or drift north into warmer waters, they will have no impact on these currents.
Although it will probably be decades before the effects of the iceberg will be known, this event may lead to less temperate winters in the North Atlantic and will also have implications for penguins and other wildlife in that area that normally use this region for feeding.
