The largest icebergs ever recorded has broken free of Antarctica.

One of the largest icebergs on record has broken away from an ice shelf in Antarctica.

Researchers who have been monitoring a huge crack in the larsen C Ice Shelf,   which had left a vast iceberg more than a quarter the size of Wales “hanging by a thread”, say the rift has finally completed its path through the ice.

The final breakthrough happened between Monday and Wednesday and was detected in data from Nasa’s Aqua MODIS satellite instrument.

“Some of the ice may remain in the area for decades, while parts of the iceberg may drift north into warmer waters.”
Although the iceberg weighs a trillion tonnes, it was already floating before it calved away so will have no immediate impact on sea level.

While the researchers said the calving was a “natural event”, it put the ice shelf in a Although the iceberg weighs a trillion tonnes, it was already floating before it calved away so will have no immediate impact on sea level.
While the researchers said the calving was a “natural event”, it put the ice shelf in a vulnerable position.