Jorge Luis

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said the formation of the new iceberg – in a natural process called “calving” – was not due to climate change, which is accelerating the loss of sea ice in the Arctic and parts of Antarctica.

The iceberg, measuring 1,550 square kilometers (598 square miles), detached from the 150-metre-thick Brunt Ice Shelf a decade after scientists first spotted massive cracks in the shelf.

A similar spectacular separation, involving a 1,270-square-kilometer iceberg, occurred around a year ago.

“This calving event has been expected and is part of the natural behavior of the Brunt Ice Shelf,” said BAS glaciologist Dominic Hodgson.

“It is not linked to climate change.”