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2010 Ice Break A Petermann Glacier, Greenland story

Glaciers  / 
Water
  1. Earthshots
  2. Petermann Glacier, Greenland
  3. 2010 Ice Break
Description

Scientists observed rifts in Petermann Glacier throughout the first decade of the 2000s. The rift that caused the 2010 break was first spotted in satellite imagery in 2001. See below for the location of this rift in a 2001 Landsat image.

The massive calving event in 2010 removed 28 kilometers of the ice shelf. The result was an ice island four times the size of Manhattan, about 270 square kilometers. It was the largest iceberg to form in the Arctic since 1962.

The last image displayed in this section shows a size comparison of Manhattan Island (yellow outline) to the iceberg.

(Black stripes run through the images because of the Scan Line Corrector failure on Landsat 7 in May 2003.)

 

July 21, 2001, Landsat 7 (path/row 43/1) — rift that began the calving events, Petermann Glacier, Greenland      July 21, 2001, Landsat 7 (path/row 43/1) — area showing rift that began the calving events, Petermann Glacier, Greenland

View Related Imagery & Stories

Location

June 28, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 43/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland

June 28, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 43/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland

July 28, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 45/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland

July 28, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 45/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland

Aug. 13, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 45/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland

Aug. 13, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 45/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland

Aug. 15, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 43/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland

Aug. 15, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 43/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland

Aug. 17, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 41/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland

Aug. 17, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 41/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland

Aug. 29, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 45/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland

Aug. 29, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 45/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland

Aug. 31, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 43/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland

Aug. 31, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 43/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland

Aug. 13, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 45/1) — Manhattan Island size comparison to the 2010 Petermann Glacier iceberg, Greenland

Aug. 13, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 45/1) — Manhattan Island size comparison to the 2010 Petermann Glacier iceberg, Greenland

June 28, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 43/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland
July 28, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 45/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland
Aug. 13, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 45/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland
Aug. 15, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 43/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland
Aug. 17, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 41/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland
Aug. 29, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 45/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland
Aug. 31, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 43/1) — 2010 calving event, Petermann Glacier, Greenland
Aug. 13, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 45/1) — Manhattan Island size comparison to the 2010 Petermann Glacier iceberg, Greenland

Petermann Glacier, Greenland Additional Imagery & Stories

2012 Break
2012 Break

Just two years later, another large iceberg broke off Petermann Glacier. This one was estimated at 130 square kilometers—about half the size of the 20...

Read More
2017 Rift
2017 Rift

A new rift formed on Petermann Glacier in 2017. An older crack to the right of the new rift also extends toward the glacier’s center. By 2020, this ne...

Read More
Seasonal Changes
Seasonal Changes

Landsat 8 has a 16-day repeat cycle. That means it images the same spot on the ground every 16 days. However, there is some overlap at the sides of th...

Read More
The Long Dark Winter
The Long Dark Winter

Compare the two Landsat images from June 24, 2014, and September 19, 2014. At this high latitude, the sun angle becomes very low later in the year. Th...

Read More
“Nighttime” Images
“Nighttime” Images

Landsat 8 normally images all Earth landmasses every 16 days. However, at high latitudes, there is considerable overlap because Landsat 8’s orbital tr...

Read More
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