Largest Calving On Record From Terminus Of Tasman Glacier (NZ) Produces 3-Meter Wave

[hatrack]

THE largest iceberg to calve off the Tasman Glacier terminal face is an indication of the effects of climate change and a dwindling glacier, an expert says. A three-metre tidal wave (Ed. - sic) surged down the glacier's terminal lake on Tuesday as a result of the largest single iceberg calving directly from the glacier's terminal face since the lake began forming in 1973.

The giant slab of ice, estimated to be 250 metres long by 250 metres wide and 80 metres high, plunged into the lake in the early afternoon. A second iceberg about a quarter of the size calved from the face shortly afterwards.

Glaciologist Trevor Chinn, who is contracted to the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa), said the Tasman Glacier had been slow to shrink and though it had stayed around the same size, it had sunk lower and lower. However this latest iceberg calving was an "irreversible tipping point in climate change", he said.

The terminal lake was formed because the ice level met the riverbed level. Since the lake appeared, the warmer water had been eating away at the glacier much faster than it was melting. The situation on the Tasman Glacier was "pretty catastrophic" but it could prove to be a winner for tourism boats because visitors would have something amazing to look at, he said. Trampers would not be so pleased because glacier roads and tracks would have to close.

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http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaruherald/4845514a6010.html