Massive Iceberg Affects Antarctic Shipping Season

Scientists are predicting it may affect the Antarctic winter shipping season. The ice mass, termed B31, is 225 square miles and may be up to a third of a mile in thickness, as reported by NASA's Earth Observatory.

It originated from Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica, last November. The fracture that created it was initially seen in 2011. According to CNN, University of Sheffield iceberg researcher Grant Bigg described, "The iceberg is now well out of Pine Island Bay and will soon join the more general flow in the Southern Ocean, which could be east or west in this region".

After the iceberg's envisioned movement, tracking the formation will be problematic in the region's dark winter months. This large of an ice mass can last for over a year, according to scientist Robert Marsh.