Iceberg Floating off Newfoundland Coast {Photo of the Day}

The Petermann Ice Island-A (PII-A) iceberg can be seen in this July 20th image floating off the coast of Newfoundland, almost a year after it calved off the Petermann Glacier on the northwest coast of Greenland.

The ice island was roughly four times the size of Manhattan when it first calved off the Petermann Glacier, and is now about the size of Manhattan; so not too shabby really, coming in at approximately 55 square kilometers (21 square miles), though it continues to lose surface area through calving and melting.

The iceberg is not likely to reach land, as its base would probably grind itself atop the sea floor off the coastline, but there is the potential for it playing havoc with shipping and offshore oil rigs.

Source: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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