March 17, 2006, Washington D.C.-- The National Ice Center (NIC) discovered an iceberg newly calved from the Fimbul Ice Shelf (Figure 1). The Fimbul Ice Shelf is a large sheet of glacial ice and snow extending along the northwestern portion of Queen Maud Land, within the easternmost portion of the Weddell Sea. The new iceberg, named D-18, is centered around 69°22’48” south and 0°12’0” east. Iceberg D-18 measures 15 nautical miles on its longest axis and 8 nautical miles on its widest axis. NIC confirmed the calving of the iceberg using visible imagery from the Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Meteorological Satellites Program (DMSP) Operational Line Scan (OLS) sensor. Mr. Paul Seymour, NIC Operations Technical Advisor, confirmed the calving of D-18.

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, D-18 is sequentially the 18th iceberg tracked by the NIC in Antarctica between 90E-0 (Quadrant D).

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