A Norwegian whaler named Carl A. Larsen became famous for doing what? Designing ice breakers, refining oil into fuel, navigating the Pacific or exploring Antarctica. The Larsen Ice Shelf in Antarctica is named for Capitan Carl Larsen who sailed to it in 1893.
British researchers say an iceberg the size of New York City just broke off Antarctica and despite the size of the new iceberg, they say they're not surprised by this. The British Antarctic Survey has been monitoring it for years.
Over that period of time, massive cracks have formed in the Brunt Ice Shelf which is almost 500 feet thick. One of these chasms, these cracks, started moving toward another one back in November and since January they've been growing by about a kilometer a day.

The BAS says the crack got wider on Friday and that essentially freed the massive iceberg from the rest of the shelf. This happens regularly in this part of the world. Scientists say it's due to a natural process called calving, when chunks of ice break away from glaciers or ice shelves.
They say it's not related to other recent calving events and that's not related to climate change, what they don't know is what the iceberg is going to do next. They believe it could move away from the Brunt Ice Shelf or possibly run aground and stay close by.
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