Iceberg D-16 is a city-sized iceberg near
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
, discovered on March 26, 2006, by the
National Ice Center
The National Ice Center (NIC) is a tri-agency operational center whose mission is to provide worldwide navigational ice analyses for the armed forces of the United States, allied nations, and U.S. government agencies.
It is represented by the ...
using satellite imagery from the
Defense Meteorological Satellite Program
The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) monitors meteorological, oceanographic, and solar-terrestrial physics for the United States Department of Defense. The program is managed by the United States Space Force with on-orbit operati ...
. It broke free of the
Fimbul Ice Shelf
The Fimbul Ice Shelf is an Antarctic ice shelf about long and wide, nourished by Jutulstraumen Glacier, bordering the coast of Queen Maud Land from 3°W to 3°E. It was photographed from the air by the Third German Antarctic Expedition (1938 ...
, located along the northwestern section of
Queen Maud Land
Queen Maud Land ( no, Dronning Maud Land) is a roughly region of Antarctica claimed by Norway as a dependent territory. It borders the claimed British Antarctic Territory 20° west and the Australian Antarctic Territory 45° east. In addit ...
in the eastern
Weddell Sea
The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Martha ...
.
It is approximately 8 miles wide and 15 miles long (120 square miles), roughly the size of a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
.
New City-sized Iceberg Created Near Antarctica
LiveScience
Live Science is a science news website run by Future via Purch, which it purchased from Imaginova in 2009. Stories and editorial commentary are typically syndicated to major news outlets, such as Yahoo!, MSNBC, AOL, and Fox News.{{fact, date=Mar ...
, 27 March 2006.
See also
*List of recorded icebergs by area
This is a list of icebergs by total area.
In 1956, an iceberg in the Antarctic was reported to be an estimated long and wide. Recorded before the era of satellite photography, the 1956 iceberg's estimated dimensions are less reliable.
Referen ...
References
External links
satellite image of D-16
D-16
Geography of Antarctica
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