ISS028-E-34749 Click the photo number to access all resolutions available and the database record.
Astronauts on the International Space Station used a digital camera to capture this view of Petermann Ice Island A, fragment 2, off of the northeast coast of Newfoundland on August 29, 2011. Spanning roughly 4 kilometers by 3.5 kilometers (2.5 by 2 miles), the ice island is covered with melt ponds and streams, much as the surface of Greenland looks in mid-summer.
As ice melts on top of the Greenland ice sheet, the melt water forms streams and pools in the depressions on the ice surface. Drawn downslope by gravity—much like streams on a mountainside—water also runs toward the edges of the ice. In some cases, it cracks through it and rushes to the bottom. Such processes appear to be at work on the ice island as well.
August 2011 was a busy month in the life of the ice island, according to the Canadian Ice Service. On August 7, it became grounded on a shoal or shallow seafloor off of St. Anthony, Newfoundland, where it sat for 11 days. By August 18, the ice island broke free and began drifting again, only to split into two large pieces about five days later. The Ice Service last reported on it on August 25.
References
Canadian Ice Service (2011) Petermann Ice Island Updates. Accessed September 16, 2011.
NASA Earth Observatory (2011, June 25) Ice Island off Labrador.
