December 15, 2014 - Unnamed iceberg in the South Atlantic Ocean

Unnamed iceberg in the South Atlantic Ocean

On December 5, 2014 the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a true-color image of an unnamed iceberg freely floating in the South Atlantic Ocean. The roughly triangular iceberg is highly reflective and appears bright white, while surrounding clouds appear a duskier white. The waters of the South Atlantic appear black.

Only icebergs that have a side measuring at least 19 kilometers (12 miles) long are named and tracked by the U.S. National Ice Center. That means that many icebergs that are nearly round, square icebergs or even triangular —like the one pictured above—can be quite large and still not meet the criteria for naming and tracking.

On December 3, the iceberg was located about 240 kilometers (150 miles) west of South Georgia Island, and measured about 165 square kilometers (64 square miles)—approximately the same area as Galveston Island, Texas. That's where the similarities end. An Antarctic iceberg with the size and shape of Galveston would be long enough to be named and tracked.

Scientists are unsure about where on Antarctica the iceberg got its start. However, its current location east of the southern tip of South America is not unusual. Icebergs often get trapped in the currents that flow around Antarctica, so they can often appear far from their original calving front.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 12/5/2014
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC