Iceberg A-78 Calves from the Jelbart Ice Shelf

By LT Falon M. Essary, USN
NIC.PAO@noaa.gov
U.S. National Ice Center
August 26, 2021

SUITLAND, MD — The U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) has confirmed that iceberg A-78 has calved from the Jelbart Ice Shelf on the Princess Martha Coast of Antarctica. As of August 25th, A-78 was centered at 70° 21' South and 3° 58' West and measures 18 nautical miles on its longest axis and 4 nautical miles on its widest axis.

The new iceberg was first spotted by Dr Jan Lieser of Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology and confirmed by USNIC Analyst Christopher Readinger using the Sentinel-1B image below.

Iceberg names are derived from the Antarctic quadrant in which they were originally sighted. The quadrants are divided counter-clockwise in the following manner:

A = 0-90W (Bellingshausen/Weddell Sea)
B = 90W-180 (Amundsen/Eastern Ross Sea)
C = 180-90E (Western Ross Sea/Wilkesland)
D = 90E-0 (Amery/Eastern Weddell Sea)

When first sighted, an iceberg’s point of origin is documented by USNIC. The letter of the quadrant, along with a sequential number, is assigned to the iceberg. For example, C-19 is sequentially the 19th iceberg tracked by USNIC in Antarctica between 180-90E (Quadrant C).

Icebergs with letter suffixes have calved from already named icebergs, where the letters are added in sequential order. For example, C-19D is the fourth iceberg to calve off the original C-19 iceberg.

For more information, please contact:
National Ice Center
Command Duty Officer
Voice: (301) 943-6977
E-mail: nic.cdo@noaa.gov
Twitter: @usnatice
Facebook: @usnatice

The U.S. National Ice Center is a tri-agency center operated by the Navy, NOAA, and Coast Guard and provides global to tactical scale ice and snow products, ice forecasting, and related environmental intelligence services for the United States government.