100-Square-Mile Glacier Breaks off Greenland

An ice island with an area of 100 square miles (260 square km) has broken off from one of Greenland's two main glaciers in an event that is the biggest of its kind for nearly 50 years.

Photo: 100-Square-Mile Glacier Breaks off Greenland

100-Square-Mile Glacier Breaks off Greenland

A chunk of ice was predicted to come away from the Petermann Glacier - of the two largest remaining ones in Greenland - but never at this scale.

The 600ft (180m)-thick island, which broke off on Thursday, will enter a remote place called the Nares Strait, about 620 miles south of the North Pole between Greenland and Canada, according to Sky News reports.

A researcher from University of Delaware has reported that a huge chunk of ice, 4 times that of Manhattan's size, has broken away from a Greenland glacier.

Andreas Muenchow, associate professor of physical ocean science and engineering reported the discovery. "The freshwater stored in this ice island could keep the Delaware or Hudson rivers flowing for more than two years. It could also keep all U.S. public tap water flowing for 120 days," Muenchow said.

The island will enter Nares Strait, a deep waterway between northern Greenland and Canada. Here, it may become land-fast, block the channel, or it may break into smaller pieces as it is propelled south by the prevailing ocean currents, according to Sify.