Antarctic Collision Snaps Rhode-Island-Sized Iceberg Off Glacier

Could deprive regions of the globe of oxygen

By Stuart Fox Posted 02.26.2010 at 3:44 pm 9 Comments

Icebergs of The Mertz Ice Tongue The former piece of the glacier is on the left, with the striking iceberg that snapped it off on the right. Neal Young, © Commonwealth of Australia, via The Australia Arctic Division

This month, an iceberg roughly the size of Luxembourg slammed into an Antarctic glacier known as the Mertz Ice Tongue. Then, last week, a Rhode Island-sized section of the Mertz Ice Tongue finally snapped off. Some scientists are excited about the new research opportunities this ice reconfiguration opens up, but others worry that the newly freed ice will significantly threaten life in the ocean.

For the worried scientists, the newly formed iceberg could potentially disrupt the undersea currents that ferry oxygen throughout the oceans. With that oxygen dispersal interrupted, areas of the ocean could fail to receive the oxygen needed to support life.

"There may be regions of the world's oceans that lose oxygen, and then of course most of the life there will die," Mario Hoppema, chemical oceanographer at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany, told the Associated Press.

However, on the bright side, Michael Meredith of the British Antarctic Survey told the BBC that the new iceberg probably isn't large enough to effect global climate patterns.

Instead, Meredith noted that the reconfiguration of Antarctic geography created a virtual laboratory where scientists can monitor how iceberg separation affects ocean ecosystems.

[BBC]

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9 Comments

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joe.sauce

02/26/10 at 4:07 pm

That's no iceburg. It's a SPACE STATION!

It's a trap!

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AndiPrama

02/26/10 at 8:43 pm

Heavy snow in Northeast U.S.A., 7.0 Richter hits Japan's Ryukyu Islands and Iceberg brakes Antarctic?

Please watch my video

It's about climate change (extreme weather conditions), earth catastrophe and our planet as we lives in.
Recent Earth catastrophes - Continental Drift: One huge continent became 2 continents, then 5 (or 6) and then?

Thank you.

youtube dotcom: watch?v=j7I_eFoIk64

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kamploopstrout

from Mission, B.C.

02/28/10 at 4:04 am

joe.sauce, you just made my day!

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Meshca

03/01/10 at 1:13 pm

do a barrel roll!

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comrade_leviathan

03/01/10 at 2:49 pm

Jack Hall: Our climate is fragile. The ice caps are
disappearing at a dangerous rate.

Vice President Becker: Professor, um, Hall, our
economy is every bit as fragile as the environment. Perhaps you should
keep that in mind before making sensational claims.

Jack Hall: Well, the last chunk of ice that broke
off was about t...he size of the state of Rhode Island. Some people might
call that pretty sensational.

The Day After Tomorrow,
2004

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johnt007871

03/01/10 at 3:28 pm

So what if this threatens ocean life? If an old tree finally falls in the forest and disrupts a river, should we change it? It's chance and can have infinitely many influences, humans included.

I don't care if we have or haven't hurt the ice caps, this is a chance occurrence of a big iceberg hitting another piece of ice and now we have 2 big pieces of ice. Haven't we meddled in things enough without being concerned over what is happening without our direct influence?

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hat045

03/01/10 at 3:52 pm

ummmm..... Day after tomorrow rip off?