Strong winds and unusual currents helped to create a breathtaking icy landscape on the surface of the nearby sea. Antarctica, And rare phenomena have recently been captured in stunning satellite images.
The incredible images were taken November 20 by Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8, a collaboration between NASA and the US Geological Survey, and released December 8 by NASA’s Earth Observatory. The photo focuses on a waterway about 3.7 miles (6 km) between the Ronne ice shelves. It was born as a permanent floating extension of the main ice sheet in Antarctica. A-76, The world’s largest iceberg in May — and Sea ice In the Weddell Sea.
Sea ice consists of both multi-year ice (white) that adheres year after year and fresh first-year ice (gray). This sea ice is usually very close to the Ronne ice shelf, but in the image it is pushed far away by strong winds. This wider gap formed a faint ice streak between the two large ice blocks. Ice tendrils are made of garlic, which is thin sea ice less than 4 inches (10 centimeters) thick. Nilas is made of fine ice, which is a small needle-like crystal that is the first stage of sea ice growth, and usually forms a completely fragile sheet on top of water.However, strong winds produce strange surface currents that prevent Niras ice from forming on a single sheet and instead push it across the surface of the channel. Statement from NASA’s Earth Observatory..
Related: 10 unbelievable images of the Earth taken by the Landsat satellite
Strong winds can cause vortices or small whirlpools in the layer of water closest to the surface, causing the water to rotate vertically in a small circular pattern perpendicular to the direction of the wind. Waltmeier, a sea ice scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, said in a statement that Niras ice had gathered in areas where these rotations converged, creating light gray stripes in dark waters.
After being pushed across the waterway, you can see the Niras ice condensing on the pale blue border around the sea ice. Normally, glaciers and sea ice appear blue only when they become very dense and absorb longer wavelengths. Light Reflects only blue. Therefore, it is unusual to see this color on very thin Niras ice.
“I’m not sure how the sea ice here turns blue, but it’s possible that the ice is compressed enough to affect it,” Meyer said in a statement.
This amazing phenomenon is Climate change.. According to the statement, during the November when the photo was taken, the spread of sea ice in Antarctica (the sea ice-covered area around Antarctica) was well below the average for that period. The formation of this type of ice may become more common in the future, as thinner, more fragile sea ice is more likely to move around in the wind.
Originally published on Live Science.
Rare faint ice formation across the ocean near Antarctica with beautiful satellite imagery
Source link Rare faint ice formation across the ocean near Antarctica with beautiful satellite imagery
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