Iceberg B-31 is a large

iceberg An iceberg is a piece of freshwater ice more than 15 m long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open (salt) water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially-derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". The ...

that formed in November 2013, when it separated from the

Pine Island Glacier Pine Island Glacier (PIG) is a large ice stream, and the fastest melting glacier in Antarctica, responsible for about 25% of Antarctica's ice loss. The glacier ice streams flow west-northwest along the south side of the Hudson Mountains into Pine ...

. B-31 is heading into the

Antarctic ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...

, which may have possible repercussions for international shipping. Soon it would not be possible to track the iceberg as the winter darkness completely hides it. The ice island is 20 miles by 12 miles and 500 m of height. It was first observed by

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a satellite-based sensor used for earth and climate measurements. There are two MODIS sensors in Earth orbit: one on board the Terra (satellite), Terra (Earth Observing System, ...

(MODIS), an instrument on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites of NASA.

References

{{Reflist B-31 Geography of Antarctica 2013 in Antarctica