Giant icebergs in the Weddell Sea, 1967–68

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Author: Swithinbank, Charles
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Cambridge University Press 1969
• Subjects: Antarctic; Weddell Sea; Weddell; Riiser-Larsen; Larsen Ice Front; Antarc*; Antarctica; British Antarctic Survey; Iceberg*; Polar Record
• Online Access: http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/526633/; https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247400064500

Two giant icebergs are moving westwards along the coast of Antarctica in the Weddell Sea. They were conspicuous throughout the 1967–68 season in ESSA-3 satellite photographs supplied by the United States National Environmental Satellite Center to the British Antarctic Survey. The two icebergs were first unmistakeably seen during orbit No 4699 on 11 October 1967 and last clearly seen before the winter during orbit No 6408 on 24 February 1968. The leading iceberg, which is roughly 45 km by 100 km, was last seen moving out to sea westwards from a position about 100 km north of Halley Bay station. The second, some 70 km by 100 km, was parallel with Riiser-Larsen Ice Front in long 21°W, and separated from it by only a few kilometres of open water. Although there were periods of weeks in which there was no movement, presumably owing to the grounding of the icebergs on shoals, both moved some 500 km along the coast in four months.