Earth ObservatoryScienceEarth ObservatoryIce Island Survives Run-InâŠEarthEarth ObservatoryImage of the DayEO ExplorerTopicsAll TopicsAtmosphereLandHeat & RadiationLife on EarthHuman DimensionsNatural EventsOceansRemote Sensing TechnologySnow & IceWaterMore ContentCollectionsGlobal MapsWorld of ChangeArticlesEarth Matters BlogBlue Marble: Next GenerationEO KidsMission: BiomesAboutAbout UsSubscribeđ RSSContact UsSearch AUGUST 24AUGUST 23A satellite view shows the iceberg after it pivoted out of the fjord into Nares Strait, wedged against a small, brown island.NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren DauphinA satellite view shows a large tabular iceberg at the junction of its home fjord and Nares Strait.NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren DauphinAUGUST 24AUGUST 23A satellite view shows the iceberg after it pivoted out of the fjord into Nares Strait, wedged against a small, brown island.NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren DauphinA satellite view shows a large tabular iceberg at the junction of its home fjord and Nares Strait.NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren DauphinAUGUST 24AUGUST 23 CurtainToggle2-UpImage DetailsAn iceberg from Petermann Glacier encounters Joe Island in northwestern Greenland, visible in images captured by the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 9 on August 23, 2026 (right), and August 24, 2026 (left). NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin.Summer is prime iceberg season in Greenlandâs glacier-fed fjords, and 2026 was no exception. Especially notable was the berg that broke from the Petermann Glacier along Greenlandâs northwest coast in August. Roughly the size of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, it was the largest calving event by any Arctic glacier since 2020.Iceberg calving is a routine part of an outlet glacierâs life cycle. Scientists watch the process closely, however, along with numerous other observations of the ice and its environment, for longer-term signs of instability. Petermann is one of Greenlandâs largest marine-terminating glaciers and acts as a gatekeeper for ice flowing from the ice sheet into the ocean. Its future stability has implications for sea level rise.The calving event of summer 2026 was spotted on August 4 by Adam Garbo, a doctoral student in glaciology at the University of Ottawa, in imagery from the European Space Agencyâs Sentinel-1 mission. Garbo and an international team of colleagues have been using remote sensing to study and track the glacierâs ice tongue.The team reported that the large tabular iceberg, or âice island,â measured just over 76 square kilometers (29 square miles) at the time it calvedâthe largest to break from the glacier since the ice island of 2012 (130 square kilometers). The 2012 calving followed earlier major events in 2008 (31 square kilometers) and 2010 (just over 250 square kilometers). The August 2026 event could have been even bigger. Garbo and colleagues had been expecting a major calving once one of the large rifts they were monitoring finally cut all the way across Petermannâs ice tongue. âWhat surprised us was that the calving instead followed a different fracture, producing a smaller ice island than we had originally anticipated,â Garbo said. As of late August, two large rifts remained and were expected to eventually produce new ice islands of roughly 94 square kilometers and 84 square kilometers, though the timing remained uncertain.August 24, 2026NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren DauphinGlaciologist Mauri Pelto of Nichols College has also been tracking the iceberg, using images from NASA-USGS Landsat satellites, as it drifted down Petermann Fjord toward Nares Strait. In the week since it calved, the berg drifted an average of 3 kilometers per day. It continued toward the fjordâs junction with Nares Strait, where it rammed into a small rocky outcrop known as Joe Island (Joe Ă). The brief encounter is visible in images captured by the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 9 on August 23 (top right) and August 24 (top left). A detailed view of the August 24 image is shown above.Joe Island sits at the mouth of Petermann Fjord, making it one of the first obstacles a departing ice island meets. Collisions with itâlike the one that split the 2010 ice island in twoâoften mark the start of a bergâs breakup. Petermann bergs tend to be thinner and more fragile than those calved by glaciers such as Greenlandâs Jakobshavn and Helheim, and thinner still than Antarcticaâs behemoths, Pelto noted.âWe were certainly watching closely as it interacted with Joe Island and were impressed that it survived the interaction without further fragmentation,â Garbo said. The ice island was estimated to be less than 150 meters thick at the time of calving. Wind and surface currents have swept it out of the fjord, and satellite images show it pivoting away from Joe Island and continuing southwest through Nares Strait. As it drifts, it will fracture into smaller pieces as tides, winds, currents, and melting continue to weaken the ice.Thicker bergs that calve from tidewater glaciers without floating ice-shelf extensions can drag and even become grounded on the seafloor within the fjord, while ice islands, like those from Petermann, might run aground later in their drift. Many ice islands have become âgroundedâ off the coasts of Coburg and Baffin islands.Garbo and colleagues noted that ice islands and their fragments have been known to travel considerable distances, posing potential hazards to marine activities and infrastructure while also distributing freshwater through the ocean as they melt.NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Kathryn Hansen.DownloadsAugust 23, 2026JPEG (12.59 MB)August 24, 2026JPEG (10.23 MB)References & ResourcesĂ kesson, H., et al. (2022) Petermann ice shelf may not recover after a future breakup. Nature Communications, 13(2519).Crawford, A. J., et al. (2016) Journey of an Arctic Ice Island. Oceanography, 29(2), 254â263.Eos (2011, April 5) Context for the Recent Massive Petermann Glacier Calving Event. Accessed August 28, 2026.The European Space Agency (2026, August 21) Sentinel-1 captures major ice loss from Greenland glacier. Accessed August 28, 2026.Fahrner, D., et al. (2026) Petermann Glacier on the brink: Progress, challenges and insights. Science Advances, 12(33).From a Glaciers Perspective (2026, August 17) Petermann Glacier, NW Greenland Releases Massive Iceberg in August 2026. Accessed August 28, 2026.NASA Earth Observatory (2023, May 20) Retreat at Petermann Glacier. Accessed August 28, 2026.NASA Earth Observatory (2012, August 2) Ice Island Drifts away from Petermann Glacier. Accessed August 28, 2026.NASA Earth Observatory (2010, August 10) Ice Island calves off Petermann Glacier. Accessed August 28, 2026.uOttawa (2026, August 7) Greenland glacier break creates new ice island. Accessed August 28, 2026.You may also be interested in:Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet. Record-Setting Retreat of Hektoria Glacier 5 min read Scientists relied on satellite data to understand how the Antarctic glacier lost so much ice so rapidly.Article Pasterze Hangs on as Austriaâs Largest Glacier 4 min read One narrowing icefall remains the linchpin for the Alpine glacierâand it may not be long for this world.Article An Uncommon Drifter in the Denmark Strait 4 min read A large iceberg, observed in summer 2026, had drifted more than 1,000 kilometers south from the northeastern Greenland bay whereâŠArticle1234NextKeep ExploringDiscover More from NASA Earth ScienceSubscribe to Earth Observatory NewslettersSubscribe to the Earth Observatory and get the Earth in your inbox.Earth Observatory Image of the DayNASA’s Earth Observatory brings you the Earth, every day, with in-depth stories and stunning imagery.Explore Earth ScienceEarth Science DataOpen access to NASAâs archive of Earth science data