Rectangular iceberg goes viral

Of

The maritime executive

10-23-2018 06:30:00

A scientist from NASA’s Operation IceBridge detection program recently spotted a rectangular iceberg floating off the Antarctic Peninsula’s Larsen C Ice Shelf. Its shape probably indicates that it was recently given birth, according to NASA, and the ocean hasn’t had much time to consume its corners yet. The photo quickly took off on social media.

“I thought it was quite interesting; I often see icebergs with relatively straight edges, but I have never seen one with two right-angled angles like this one, ”said Jeremy Harbeck, senior suport scientist, who photographed the Bergs. “I was actually more interested in capturing the A68 iceberg we were about to fly over, but I thought this rectangular iceberg was visually interesting and quite photogenic, so as a joke, I just took a couple of photos.” A68 is the huge, Delaware-sized Ice Sheet that broke away from Larsen C in July 2017.

The Harbeck discovery is an unusually square example of a tabular iceberg, according to NASA. Tabular icebergs come from ice shelves, which are wide, flat, and regular in shape, and often produce bergs of geometric shapes.

A slightly less square tabular iceberg, with the vast expanse of A68 visible in the distance (NASA / Jeremy Harbeck)