Greenland glacier gives birth to giant iceberg Envisat has been
observing a rare event in the Arctic since early August - a
giant iceberg breaking off the Petermann glacier in North-West
Greenland. The Petermann glacier is one of the largest glaciers
connecting the Greenland inland ice sheet with the Arctic Ocean.
Upon reaching the sea, a number of these large outlet glaciers
extend into the water with a floating 'ice tongue'. The ice
tongue of the Petermann glacier was the largest in Greenland,
with an extension of about 70 km until early August. This tide-
water glacier regularly advances towards the ocean at about 1 km
per year. During the previous months, satellite images revealed
that several cracks had appeared on the glacier surface,
suggesting to scientists that a break-up event was imminent. In
the Envisat radar image taken on 3 August, the ice tongue was
still intact but, on 4 August, a large part of the floating ice
tongue was separated from the glacier, giving birth to what is
currently the largest