A giant iceberg the size of Manhattan has broken off the Petermann Glacier in north-western Greenland, science portal ScienceDaily has reported.
The European Space Agency satellite Copernicus Sentinel-1 recorded the detachment of the massive ice mass, which marks the largest calving rift at the glacier in 14 years.
Scientists had monitored the crack across the ice shelf for years and long anticipated that a major section would eventually break away from the primary structure.
The newly detached ice island covers a surface area of 76 square kilometres and reaches a thickness of up to 150 metres in certain sections. By comparison, the island of Manhattan in New York covers roughly 59 square kilometres.
Specialists from the Canadian Ice Service are actively monitoring the movement of the iceberg as it drifts into surrounding polar waters. The agency regularly tracks sea ice and floating hazards to assist maritime navigation in northern waters.
Risks of further ice shelf collapse
The newly floating iceberg may not be the final piece to separate from the glacier. Two subsequent large fragments, measuring 87 and 97 square kilometres respectively, are also at risk of breaking off from the formation.
Petermann Glacier is one of Greenland's major marine-terminating glaciers, located in the remote north-western region of the island where it connects the Greenland ice sheet directly to the Arctic Ocean.
The satellite that captured the imagery, Copernicus Sentinel-1, is part of the European Union's Earth observation programme managed by the European Space Agency, an intergovernmental organization dedicated to space exploration and environmental monitoring.
Destruction of historic Antarctic icebergs
The event in Greenland follows reports from April regarding the complete destruction of iceberg A23a, which was previously recognized as the world's largest floating iceberg.
Iceberg A23a originally formed in 1986 with a surface area reaching 4,170 square kilometres. It drifted in the Atlantic Ocean for 40 years before completely breaking apart.
For decades after its formation, A23a remained grounded and stationary on the seafloor of the Weddell Sea, a southern bay off Antarctica, before initiating a slow drift along the Antarctic coastline.
