Pine Island Glacier Rift from Landsat

For the last year, the Pine Island Glacier in western Antarctica has been seemingly poised to calve off a giant iceberg, or icebergs, that in total would represent an area the size of New York City. Sea ice may have kept the iceberg from breaking free during the southern hemisphere's winter months, but as this Oct. 26, 2012 image from the Landsat 7 satellite shows, the calving front of the glacier is now generally free of sea ice due to the onset of spring. 

For more on this massive crack in the glacier and Operation IceBridge, a six-year airborne mission to study polar ice, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv9Kwg4PtR8&feature=plcp


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