Landsat 9 imaged a 76-square-kilometre ice island that broke from Petermann Glacier and struck Joe Island
Landsat 9 caught a 76-square-kilometre ice island that broke from Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland on 23 and 24 August. The tabular mass, up to 150 metres thick, moved an average of 3 kilometres a day down Petermann Fjord and struck Joe Island. It is the largest piece the glacier has shed since 2012. Two more rifts on the ice front appear close to breaking; NASA Earth Observatory estimates them at 94 and 84 square kilometres, while Universe Today puts them at 97 and 87.
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Landsat 9 caught the Petermann Glacier break on 23 and 24 August
The imager on Landsat 9 caught the ice island that broke from Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland on 23 and 24 August. NASA Earth Observatory reports the break in that two-day window, following a different fracture than the University of Ottawa team expected. At calving, the tabular mass measured just over 76 square kilometres. Universe Today notes that the floating ice tongue had extended about 70 kilometres into the fjord before this event, which represents the glacier's largest loss of floating ice since 2012.[1], [2]
A 76-square-kilometre ice island struck Joe Island in Petermann Fjord
Less than 150 metres thick, the ice island moved an average of 3 kilometres a day down Petermann Fjord and struck Joe Island, a small rocky outcrop. After the strike, the mass kept moving. NASA Earth Observatory reports those dimensions and that daily speed for the slab on its way down the waterway. Joe Island is a small rocky outcrop in the fjord; the ice island hit it and continued.[1]
Two remaining rifts on Petermann's front hold differing size estimates
Mauri Pelto is tracking the mass through Landsat images. Two additional rifts left on the ice front appear close to breaking away and releasing more ice. The two sources differ on the expected size of these future calvings. NASA Earth Observatory estimates the two pieces at roughly 94 and 84 square kilometres. Universe Today gives the dimensions of the two chunks as approximately 97 and 87 square kilometres.[1], [2]
