The Larsen B ice shelf, which started disintegrating in 2002, has worried the NASA scientists once again. The remnant spread in 625 square mile area is 1,640 feet thick at its thickest point and has acted as a bridge between glacial ice and the ocean surface for over 10,000 years. However, research has pointed out that it is disintegrating at a break neck speed and could be gone in a matter of a few decades.

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Ala Khazendar, along with his team from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, remarked on the official website of NASA that the shelf has started developing large cracks and is fragmenting more frequently, leading to the rapid growth and thinning of its tributary glaciers. He adds that though it is a scientist's consternation to be a part of something as magnificent as this but the consequences could be ghastly for the blue planet.

The team, which included scientists from JPL, University of California and the University Centre in Svalbard, was able to calculate the thinning rate of the ice shelf based on NASA's data on bedrock structures and ice surface elevations. A more compact picture was presented by the NASA's satellite that mapped the ground for over two decades and hence facilitated to calculate the exact flow speed.

According to The Wall Street OTC, the scientists have remarked that ever since the first splat of Larsen B, its neighbor glaciers have remained still, yet have thinned to 72 feet which has led to a 36 percent increase in their respective flow speed. These disintegrations have been termed as Relentless by the researchers.

The study has been published in the Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

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