The tongue of the Mertz Glacier, 100 km from Adélie Land, broke away from the Antarctic continent some time between 12 and 13 February. The ice tongue was already beginning to crack before it calved. A new giant iceberg was formed after a collision with the larger B9B iceberg coming from the east.

Spot Image has been monitoring the glacier since its involvement with research programmes for the 4th International Polar Year (IPY) and tasked the SPOT 5 satellite to track the iceberg, which is 80 km long and 40 km across. The time series of imagery acquired since 15 February 2010 shows how the iceberg has rotated about 90° and is now drifting westwards.

Spot Image was alerted by the LEGOS space geophysics and oceanography research laboratory, which has been observing coastal glaciers in Antarctica for 15 years with a team of scientists working on the CRACICE* programme. Research work for this programme has relied on satellite imagery and a network of GPS transmitters deployed on the glacier, using the Astrolabe vessel and helicopters from the Paul Emile Victor institute (IPEV).

These satellite images will enable the scientific community to study the local impacts of this event and learn more about ice melt and sea level rise.

Spot Image has developed SPIRIT DEM products specifically for glaciology applications.

*Cooperative Research into Antarctic Calving and Iceberg Evolution