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Fast-spreading crack threatens giant Antarctic ice shelf

Larsen C could shed Delaware-sized section within next few years

crack in Larsen C ice shelf

BREAK UP  Last year a crack stretching tens of kilometers rapidly spread across Larsen C, shown here in 2009, one of the largest ice shelves in Antarctica. The crack could break off a massive area of ice and threaten the ice shelf’s stability.

Michael Studinger/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

By Thomas Sumner

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