19 MAR 02: “ICEBERG B-22
CALVES OFF THWAITES ICE TONGUE,” OR “NEW GIANT ICEBERG ON THE LOOSE!!!!!”

FROM
CNN:

Iceberg B-22 is visible
in a satellite photo modified to highlight the berg.

New giant iceberg adrift
near Antarctica

March 19, 2002 Posted: 11:54
AM EST (1654 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A new
iceberg — one roughly twice the size of the state of Rhode Island — is
adrift in the icy waters off Antarctica, the National Ice Center says.

    The iceberg
— designated B-22 –broke off from the Thwaites Ice Tongue, a peninsula
of ice and snow extending from the mainland of Antarctica into the Amundsen
Sea, in the region of Antarctica closest to the mid-Pacific Ocean.

    The new
iceberg is about 53 miles long and about 40 miles wide. It is currently
located at 74.56 south latitude and 107.55 west longitude.

    It is
designated B-22 because it is the 22nd iceberg researchers are tracking
in the Amundsen/Eastern Ross Sea (designated Quadrant “B” by the National
Ice Center).

    The National
Ice Center does ice analysis for the military and the private sector. It
is operated by the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the National Oceanographic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

    Researchers
have noticed an unusually high number of icebergs calved from Antarctica
in recent years, prompting some observers to speculate on a possible connection
to global warming…”

FROM
OUR GOVERNMENT’S NATIONAL ICE CENTER:

Iceberg B-22 Calves Off
Thwaites Ice Tongue

March 15, 2002, Washington
D.C.– The National Ice Center (NIC) confirms an iceberg newly calved from
the Thwaites Ice Tongue (Figures 1 & 2). The Thwaites Ice Tongue is
a large sheet of glacial ice and snow extending from the Antarctic mainland
into the southern Amundsen Sea. This new iceberg is named B-22 and is currently
located at 74.56S/ 107.55W. Iceberg B-22, roughly 46NM long and 35NM wide,
covers an area of approximately 2,120 square statute miles. National Snow
and Ice Data Center scientist Dr. Ted Scambos notified NIC of a large crack
in the Thwaites Tongue discovered by Jennifer Bohlander (also of NSIDC)
using MODIS data from February 10th, 2001. The crack was found to have
significantly widened in MODIS data from March 8, 2001. Analyst Judy Shaffier,
of the National Ice Center, confirmed the calving of Iceberg B22 using
the satellite images shown above from the Defense Meteorological Satellite
Program’s (DMSP) Operational Line Scan (OLS) Visible sensor (Figure 1)
and NOAA’s AVHRR sensor (Figure 2), both dated March 11, 2001.

    Iceberg
names are derived from the Antarctic quadrant in which they were originally
sighted. The quadrants are divided counter-clockwise in the following manner:

A = 0-90W (Bellinghausen/Weddell
Sea)

B = 90W-180 (Amundsen/Eastern
Ross Sea)

C = 180-90E (Western Ross
Sea/Wilkesland)

D = 90E-0 (Amery/Eastern
Weddell Sea).

    When
an iceberg is first sighted, NIC documents its point of origin. The letter
of the quadrant, along with a sequential number is assigned to the iceberg.
For example, B-22 is sequentially the 22nd iceberg tracked by the NIC in
Antarctica between 90-180 (Quadrant B).

    The National
Ice Center is a tri-agency operational center represented by the United
States Navy (Department of Defense); the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Department of Commerce); and the United States Coast Guard
(Department of Transportation). The National Ice Center mission is to provide
world-wide operational ice analyses for the armed forces of the United
States and allied nations, U.S. government agencies, and the private sector.