Iceberg B-31 is a large

iceberg An iceberg is a piece of fresh water ice more than long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". Much of an i ...

that formed in November 2013, when it separated from the Pine Island Glacier. B-31 is heading into the

Antarctic Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60th parallel south, 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is the seco ...

, which may have possible repercussions for international shipping. Soon it would not be possible to track the iceberg as the winter darkness completely hides it. The ice island is 20 miles by 12 miles and 500 m of height. It was first observed by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), an instrument on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites of NASA.

References

{{Reflist B-31 Geography of Antarctica 2013 in Antarctica