University of Washington researchers have demonstrated the fastest-known large-scale breakage along an #Antarctic ice shelf. The study shows that a 6.5-mile (10.5 kilometre) crack formed in 2012 on Pine Island Glacier — a retreating ice shelf that holds back the larger West Antarctic ice sheet — in about 5 and a half minutes. That means the rift opened at about 115 feet (35 meters) per second, or about 80 miles per hour. #ClimateChange#antartctica#iceshelf#IceSheets
