Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Japan Tsunami Broke Off Icebergs in Antarctica

The tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 propagated waves that hit an ice shelf in Antarctica 8,100 miles away, smashing parts of it into huge icebergs. In total, the tsunami liberated about 48 square miles of icebergs from a region that had remained essentially unchanged for close to half a century. The largest berg measured about 5.9 miles by 4 miles, making it slightly bigger in surface area than Manhattan, and had a likely depth of about 260 feet.

東北地方太平洋沖地震の影響で13,000km離れた南極大陸の半世紀以上も変化の無かった77平方キロメートルにも及ぶ棚氷を巨大氷山に分裂していたのが 確認されたそうです。大きい物では 縦9.5km, 横6.5km、高さ80mとニューヨークのマンハッタンよりもでかい
らしいです。