세계 최대 남극 빙산 충돌 카운트 다운 VIDEO: The UK is sending robot submarines to watch the world’s largest iceberg crash into an island

The UK is sending robot submarines to watch the world’s largest iceberg crash into an island

By Brandon Specktor - Senior Writer 10 hours ago

The world’s largest iceberg appears days away from crashing into a penguin-filled island. These robots will study the aftermath.

Scientists will deploy two robot gliders like this one to study iceberg A-68a.(Image: © David White/ BAS)

세계 최대 남극 빙산 충돌 카운트 다운 남조지아 섬의 남극 야생동물 보호구역    세계에서 가장 큰 빙산인 A-68a는 남조지아 섬의 남극 야생동물 보호구역에 충돌하기 며칠 안 남았을지 모른다.  연구원들은 이미 그 여파를 준비하고 있다. 몇 달 동안 빙산을 추적해 온 영국 남극 조사국에 따르면, 두 개의 냉장고 크기의 로봇 잠수정이 곧 이 거대한 충돌의 수중 효과를 연구하기 위해 사우스 조지아로 보내질 것이라고 한다. BAS의 발표에 따르면, 이 쌍둥이 잠수정들은 각각 길이가 약 5피트(1.5미터)이고 원격으로 작동하며, 바다 온도, 염분, 빙산의 반대편으로부터 해수의 선명도에 대한 데이터를 수집하는데 거의 4개월을 보내게 된다. 과학자들은 한때 2,000 평방 마일(5,100 km2)의 버그에서 직접 강타한 공격으로 수백만 마리의 펭귄과 바다표범의 먹이가 차단되어 이 섬에서 대규모 동물 기아로 이어질 수 있다는 것을 알고 있었다.  하지만 바다에서만 연구할 수 있는 다른, 더 불분명한 환경적 영향이 있다. 예를 들어, 수조 톤의 빙산이 번성하는 바닷물 생태계에 엄청난 양의 담수를 방출하기 시작하면 어떻게 될까? 세계 최대 남극 빙산 조지아섬 이동 경로 Daily Mail 황기철 콘페이퍼 에디터 Ki Chul Hwang Conpaper editor curator

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The world's largest iceberg, A-68a, may be mere days away from crashing into the Antarctic wildlife refuge of South Georgia island, and researchers are already preparing for the aftermath. According to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), which has tracked the iceberg for months, two refrigerator-sized robots will soon ship out for South Georgia to study the underwater effects of the impending collision.

The twin submersibles — each one measuring about 5 feet (1.5 meters) long and operated remotely — will spend almost four months collecting data on seawater temperature, salinity and clarity from opposite sides of the iceberg, according to a statement from BAS.

Scientists have known for some time that a direct hit from the 2,000-square-mile (5,100 square km) berg could block off marine feeding routes for millions of penguins and seals, potentially leading to mass animal starvation on the island. But there are other, more nebulous environmental impacts that can be studied only from the sea. For example, what happens when a trillion-ton iceberg starts releasing enormous amounts of freshwater into a thriving saltwater ecosystem?

"Animals and plants are … going to be faced with an instantaneous change in their environment," Geraint Tarling, an ecologist with BAS, said in a video included in the statement. "[Native plants] might not be able to grow as well, and that means there's not as much food available for zooplankton and krill, which are then the food for the penguins and seals. And so, the whole [ecosystem] might stop thriving."

Mapping experts have been tracking A-68a's movement for several months. A crash may be days away. (Image credit: BAS)

The robots will help Tarling and his colleagues monitor those changes as they're happening, and hopefully allow them to predict long-term changes to the island's ecosystem.

Iceberg A-68a broke off of Antarctica's Larsen C Ice Shelf in July 2017, and has been steadily drifting north into warmer waters ever since. Recent aerial footage from the U.K.'s Royal Air Force (RAF) revealed that the berg is losing huge ice chunks (called "growlers") around its edges, and is streaked with deep cracks and caves. Whether the doomed iceberg breaks apart before grinding to a halt at South Georgia remains to be seen.

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https://www.livescience.com/iceberg-a68a-collision-robots.html

Mega Iceberg A68a approaches South Georgia

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