Observation of Huge Iceberg Detachment from Larsen-C Ice Shelf in Antarctic Peninsula by ALOS-2/PALSAR-2

摘要

Ice shelves have a key role to assess mass balance in Antarctic Ice Sheet and its contribution to global sea-level rise. On July 12 2017, a large iceberg separated from Larsen-C Ice Shelf in Antarctic Peninsula, which lost greater than 12% of total ice mass. We use ALOS-2/PALSAR-2 ScanSAR images to capture the overall picture of this event and to understand what happens to Larsen-C. ALOS-2 images reveal that the iceberg has been gradually moved toward sea, sometimes affected by sea ice motion. The ALOS and ALOS-2 images show that the ice front has been advancing by ~ 8 km in the last 10 years. The interferometric coherence analysis reveals that there are some cracks on the ice shelf despite not seen in the intensity images. The distribution of the cracks derived from the coherence can be useful to assess the instability of Larsen-C.