Icebergs put Antarctic monitoring program at risk

International monitoring of the effects of climate change in the Southern Ocean could be disrupted after two huge icebergs broke away from the Antarctic coast over the weekend, New Zealand scientists said Monday.

The government's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said it could lose valuable scientific equipment after the icebergs broke off the Nansen Ice Shelf at Terra Nova Bay, about 285 km from Scott Base.

Satellite images showed the icebergs were between 5 and 15 km long, up to 5 km across, and could be up to 100 meters thick, said a NIWA statement.

A NIWA mooring had been deployed deep into Terra Nova Bay from the Republic of Korea (ROK) ice-breaker Aaron as part of a collaborative program between New Zealand and the ROK.

The mooring was part of New Zealand's contribution to the Southern Ocean Observing System, an international consortium to better observe changes in the Southern Ocean.

NIWA oceanographer Dr Mike Williams said the icebergs were so deep they could catch the top of the mooring and drag or break it if they drifted over it.

A similar mooring installed by the United States was also at risk and an ROK was now situated on one of the icebergs.

The NIWA mooring was in its second year of operation and contained sensitive and highly valuable scientific equipment that measured current, temperature and salinity to help understand the effects of climate change sea ice and ice shelves.

"We won't know until we go back next summer whether it is still there. We could lose a whole year of data. If that happens it will leave a gap in our research and that's unfortunate," Williams said in the statement.

Source: Xinhua