Seasonal Ice Flow Backed Up
C-19 iceberg that calved off the Ross Ice shelf and its companion B-15 iceberg, which is anchored near the coast. The two large bergs may have disrupted normal ocean circulation that clears the Ross Sea of seasonal ice during the first months of austral summer. The ice remained in the sea long past previous thaw dates, and created trouble for ships trying to bring in supplies to McMurdo research station on Ross Island. But after months of stillness, in mid-January C-19 changed position dramatically over just a few days, pivoting northward from its eastern end. The effect was like opening a floodgate, and the sea ice trapped between C-19 and B-15 poured out into the Southern Ocean.
Visualization showing C-19 moving towards the sea.

September 22, 2002

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Video slate image reads "Seasonal Ice Flow Backed Up!!".
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Scientific Visualization Studio, and the MODIS Rapid Response Team (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)
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Animator
- Stuart A. Snodgrass (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
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Scientist
- Vincent Salomonson (NASA/GSFC)
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Writer
Release date
This page was originally published on Monday, February 24, 2003.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:57 PM EDT.
Missions
This page is related to the following missions:Datasets used
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[Terra: MODIS]
ID: 116
Note: While we identify the data sets used on this page, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.