The National Ice Center - Press Release

February 11, 2008, Washington D.C. -- The National Ice Center (NIC) was informed by Ted Scambos and Terry Haran of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) that a calving incident of the Larsen Ice Shelf had occured, resulting in the discovery of a new iceberg that meets criteria for naming and tracking by the NIC. The new iceberg will be named A-55. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery first indicated calving on 11 February 2008 (Figure 1). The Larsen Ice Shelf is a large sheet of glacial ice and snow extending along the eastern portion of the Palmer Peninsula, within the westernmost portion of the Weddell Sea. A-55 is currently located at 65.49S 61.17W, and measures 15NM x 04NM, based off MODIS imagery from 11 February 2008.

Iceberg names are derived from the Antarctic quadrant in which they were originally sighted. The quadrants are divided counter-clockwise in the following manner:

A = 0-90W (Bellinghausen/Weddell Sea)
B = 90W-180 (Amundsen/Eastern Ross Sea)
C = 180-90E (Western Ross Sea/Wilkesland)
D = 90E-0 (Amery/Eastern Weddell Sea).

When first sighted, an iceberg’s point of origin is documented by the NIC. The letter of the quadrant, along with a sequential number, is assigned to the iceberg. For example, A-55 is sequentially the 55th iceberg tracked by the NIC in Antarctica between 0-90W (Quadrant A).

The National Ice Center is a tri-agency operational center represented by the United States Navy (Department of Defense), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Department of Commerce), and the United States Coast Guard (Department of Homeland Security). The National Ice Center mission is to provide worldwide operational ice analyses for the armed forces of the United States and allied nations, U.S. government agencies, and the private sector.

For more information, please contact:
National Ice Center
Naval Ice Center
Liaison Branch
Voice: 301-394-3100
E-mail: liaison@natice.noaa.gov