Glacier in North Greenland Breaks Off Huge Iceberg

This satellite image provided by NASA shows calving,
crescent-shaped crack at center, on the Petermann
Glacier in northwestern Greenland. An iceberg twice the
size of Manhattan tore off one of Greenland's largest
glaciers. Scientists had been watching the 15-mile long
crack in the floating ice shelf of the northerly Petermann
Glacier for several years. (AP Photo/NASA)

By: The Associated Press | WSAV News 3
Published: July 20, 2012 

An iceberg twice the size of Manhattan tore off one of Greenland's largest glaciers, illustrating another dramatic change to the warming island.

For several years, scientists had been watching a long crack near the tip of the northerly Petermann Glacier. NASA satellites this week showed it had broken completely, freeing an iceberg measuring 46 square miles.

A massive ice sheet covers about four-fifths of Greenland. Petermann Glacier is mostly on land, but a segment sticks out over water like a frozen tongue, and that's where the break occurred.

The same glacier spawned an iceberg twice that size two years ago. Together, the breaks made a large change that's got the attention of researchers.  READ MORE