A feature known as Chasm 1 is prominent in the Landsat imagery. This crack reactivated in December 2012 after no movement for 35 years. The Landsat images show rapid growth of the chasm, especially in 2018 and 2019, as it extended toward the McDonald Ice Rumples.

In early 2019, Chasm 1 was extending north as fast as 4 kilometers per year, and from 2012 to 2021, the rift widened almost three-fold.

On January 22, 2023, an iceberg the size of Houston finally broke off the shelf. Landsat images show the area a day before the break and a few days after. The new iceberg, named A-81, will be carefully tracked by satellites as it floats into the Weddell Sea.

The time series of images also shows Chasm 1 moving westward with the flow of the ice shelf.

Imagery

Every picture has a story to tell
Dec. 13, 2002, Landsat 7 (path/row 184/114) — Chasm 1, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Feb. 13, 2009, Landsat 7 (path/row 184/114) — Chasm 1, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Dec. 1, 2013, Landsat 8 (path/row 184/114) — Chasm 1, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Oct. 31, 2016, Landsat 8 (path/row 183/114) — Chasm 1, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Dec. 21, 2017, Landsat 8 (path/row 183/114) — Chasm 1, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Nov. 20, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 185/114) — Chasm 1, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Oct. 31, 2019, Landsat 8 (path/row 184/114) — Chasm 1, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Jan. 7, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 182/114) — Chasm 1, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Dec. 25, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 182/114) — Chasm 1, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Feb. 8, 2022, Landsat 9 (path/row 185/114) — Chasm 1, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Jan. 21, 2023, Landsat 9 (path/row 182/114) — Brunt Ice Shelf, Chasm 1, Antarctica
Jan. 25, 2023, Landsat 8 (path/row 186/113,114) — Brunt Ice Shelf, Chasm 1, Antarctica
Feb. 3, 2023, Landsat 8 (path/row 185/114) — Brunt Ice Shelf, Chasm 1, Antarctica
Feb. 5, 2023, Landsat 8 (path/row 183/114) — Brunt Ice Shelf, Chasm 1, Antarctica
Feb. 12, 2023, Landsat 8 (path/row 184/114) — Brunt Ice Shelf, Chasm 1, Antarctica
Feb. 15, 2024, Landsat 8 (path/row 184/114) — Brunt Ice Shelf, Chasm 1, Antarctica

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