An enormous iceberg the size of Sydney has broken away from a glacier in Antarctica.
The estimated 315 billion tonne block named D – 28 separated from the ice shelf on September 26.
But scientists say the iceberg, which is 632 square miles, has not broken away due to climate change.
Instead, experts say this is a normal part of the ice shelf’s cycle, which is impacted by rising and warming seas.
The ice shelf is recognized as the third largest in Antarctica and is a major water drain channel for the east of the continent.
Professor Helen Amanda Fricker, of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said they had been kept on their toes waiting for the moment, which she described as exciting.
She toldSky News: ‘It’s part of the ice shelf’s normal cycle, where we see major calving events every 60 to 70 years. ‘
The institution has been studying the iceberg for almost 20 years, which is the largest to have been created since the 1960 s from the Amery Glacier.
Professor Fricker added: ‘We knew it would happen eventually, but just to keep us all on our toes, it is not exactly where we expected it to be.’
Despite the iceberg’s enormity, experts said the movement won’t directly affect sea levels because the ice shelf was already floating, ‘like an ice cube in a glass of water’.
Glaciologist, Ben Galton-Fenzi, of the the Australian Antarctic Division, said: ‘But what will be interesting to see is how the loss of this ice will influence the ocean melting under the remaining ice shelf and the speed at which the ice flows off the continent. ‘
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