Scientists from Project MIDAS had been monitoring a break in the Larsen C ice shelf — the fourth largest in Antarctica — following the collapse of the Larsen A ice shelf in 1995 and had observed significant advances in the rift over the past 12 months. The one trillion tonne iceberg, measuring 5,800 square km, calved away from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica sometime between July 10 and 12, said scientists at the University of Swansea and the British Antarctic Survey. The calving of the iceberg reduces the size of the Larsen C Ice Shelf by around 12 per cent and will change the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula forever, the team from the Swansea University-led Midas project said. "The rift was barely visible in these data in recent weeks, but the signature is so clear now that it must have opened considerably along its whole length," explained Prof Adrian Luckman, whose Project Midas at Swansea University has followed the berg's evolution most closely. Luckman said that as the sheet of ice was already floating before it carved off the shelf “there will be no immediate impact.”

“This event does not directly affect anyone, and repercussions, if there are any, will not be felt for years. Professor David Vaughan, glaciologist and director of science at BAS, added:

"Larsen A and B ice shelves, which were situated further north on the Antarctic Peninsula, collapsed in 1995 and 2002, respectively.
A giant iceberg covering approximately 6,000 square kilometres (2,300 sq mi) breaks away from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica.