<ol>
<li><p>Is &quot;Chasm One&quot; an &quot;official&quot; name for the feature?</p>
<p>No. This is only an informal name used to designate a rift structure (fracture) in the Brunt Ice Shelf, East Antarctica. For example, another rift structure, which trends perpendicular to &quot;Chasm 1,&quot; was informally named the &quot;Halloween Crack&quot; because it was first detected on October 31, 2016.</p>
</li>
<li><p>How was the term coined?</p>
<p>It is one of two rift structures that are arbitrarily and sequentially numbered, &quot;Chasm 1&quot; and &quot;Chasm 2&quot;, starting from the seaward edge of the Brunt Ice Shelf, East Antarctica inland along the ice shelf as shown in Figures 1 and 2 0f King et a. (2017).</p>
</li>
<li><p>Will there be a new Chasm One someday, or will the name be retired after this one splits?</p>
<p>The name will likely be retired because having multiple &quot;Chasm 1&quot;s in the same ice shelf will be too confusing. Most likely as new rift structures from the sequential naming of them, e.g. &quot;Chasm 3,&quot; &quot;Chasm 4,&quot; and so forth would continue.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>The papers are:</p>
<p>de Rydt, Jan, Gudmundsson, Hilmar, Nagler, Thomas, Wuite, Jan and King, Edward (2018) Recent rift formation and impact on the structural integrity of the Brunt Ice Shelf, East Antarctica. The Cryosphere, 12 (2). pp. 505-520. ISSN 1994-0424 <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-505-2018" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-505-2018</a></p>
<p>de Rydt, J., Gudmundsson, G. H., Nagler, T., and Wuite, J.: Calving cycle of the Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica, driven by changes in ice-shelf geometry, The Cryosphere Discuss., <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-46" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-46</a>, in review, 2019 <a href="https://www.the-cryosphere-discuss.net/tc-2019-46/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.the-cryosphere-discuss.net/tc-2019-46/</a></p>
<p>King, E. C., De Rydt, J., and Gudmundsson, G. H.: The internal structure of the Brunt Ice Shelf from ice-penetrating radar analysis and implications for ice shelf fracture, The Cryosphere, 12, 3361-3372, <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3361-2018" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3361-2018</a>, 2018. <a href="https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/3361/2018/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/3361/2018/</a></p>
<p>Hodgson, Dominic A., Jordan, Tom A., de Rydt, Jan, Fretwell, Peter T., Seddon, Samuel A., Becker, David, Hogan, Kelly A., Smith, Andrew M. and Vaughan, David G. (2019) Past and future dynamics of the Brunt Ice Shelf from seabed bathymetry and ice shelf geometry. The Cryosphere, 13. pp. 545-556. ISSN 1994-0440 <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/tc-2018-206" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/tc-2018-206</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-14T21:35:04.720Z
A thorough and well-sourced answer, thank you!
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-14T20:13:36.340Z
2019-07-25T02:48:49.683Z
2020-06-18T08:25:19.090Z
Paleocene
<p>The BBC News article <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47817510" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Antarctic: No role for climate in Halley iceberg splitting</a> says:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>With no-one on the ice surface, notice of any breakaway will have to come from <strong>automated in-situ instrumentation</strong> and from spacecraft observations.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The image below shows the <em>current location</em> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halley_Research_Station" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Halley Research Station</a> relative to "<strong>Chasm One</strong>". I like that name. It reminds me of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceShipOne" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SpaceShipOne</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Enemy_No._1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Public Enemy No. 1</a>.</p>

<p>Is "Chasm One" an "official" name for the feature? How was the term coined? Will there be a new Chasm One someday, or will the name be retired after this one splits?</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Q3OMU.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Q3OMU.png" alt="Brunt Ice Shelf and Chasm One BBC"></a></p>

<p>Source: NASA, LandSat, USGS, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47817510" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BBC</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-05T04:29:31.567Z
related: [What (if any) “in-situ instrumentation” is on the Brunt Ice Shelf that will detect its splitting and breaking away?](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/q/16651/6031)
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-05T09:02:09.820Z
I love your questions
Gimelist
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-05T09:36:04.027Z
@Gimelist thanks, I love asking them! (and reading their answers too) ;-)
uhoh
<glaciology><terminology><antarctica><ice-shelf>
Is "Chasm One" the really the name of this feature on the Brunt Ice Shelf?
uhoh
# Is "Chasm One" the really the name of this feature on the Brunt Ice Shelf?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-04-05)

The BBC News article [Antarctic: No role for climate in Halley iceberg splitting](https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47817510) says:

> With no-one on the ice surface, notice of any breakaway will have to come from **automated in-situ instrumentation** and from spacecraft observations.

The image below shows the *current location* of [Halley Research Station](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halley_Research_Station) relative to "**Chasm One**". I like that name. It reminds me of [SpaceShipOne](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceShipOne) and [Public Enemy No. 1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Enemy_No._1).

Is "Chasm One" an "official" name for the feature? How was the term coined? Will there be a new Chasm One someday, or will the name be retired after this one splits?

[![Brunt Ice Shelf and Chasm One BBC](https://i.sstatic.net/Q3OMU.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/Q3OMU.png)

Source: NASA, LandSat, USGS, [BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47817510)

**Tags:** glaciology, terminology, antarctica, ice-shelf

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: related: [What (if any) “in-situ instrumentation” is on the Brunt Ice Shelf that will detect its splitting and breaking away?](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/q/16651/6031)  
> **username_1**: I love your questions  
> **username_0**: @username_1 thanks, I love asking them! (and reading their answers too) ;-)  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-04-14. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

1. Is "Chasm One" an "official" name for the feature?

   No. This is only an informal name used to designate a rift structure (fracture) in the Brunt Ice Shelf, East Antarctica. For example, another rift structure, which trends perpendicular to "Chasm 1," was informally named the "Halloween Crack" because it was first detected on October 31, 2016.
2. How was the term coined?

   It is one of two rift structures that are arbitrarily and sequentially numbered, "Chasm 1" and "Chasm 2", starting from the seaward edge of the Brunt Ice Shelf, East Antarctica inland along the ice shelf as shown in Figures 1 and 2 0f King et a. (2017).
3. Will there be a new Chasm One someday, or will the name be retired after this one splits?

   The name will likely be retired because having multiple "Chasm 1"s in the same ice shelf will be too confusing. Most likely as new rift structures from the sequential naming of them, e.g. "Chasm 3," "Chasm 4," and so forth would continue.

The papers are:

de Rydt, Jan, Gudmundsson, Hilmar, Nagler, Thomas, Wuite, Jan and King, Edward (2018) Recent rift formation and impact on the structural integrity of the Brunt Ice Shelf, East Antarctica. The Cryosphere, 12 (2). pp. 505-520. ISSN 1994-0424 <http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-505-2018>

de Rydt, J., Gudmundsson, G. H., Nagler, T., and Wuite, J.: Calving cycle of the Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica, driven by changes in ice-shelf geometry, The Cryosphere Discuss., <https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-46>, in review, 2019 <https://www.the-cryosphere-discuss.net/tc-2019-46/>

King, E. C., De Rydt, J., and Gudmundsson, G. H.: The internal structure of the Brunt Ice Shelf from ice-penetrating radar analysis and implications for ice shelf fracture, The Cryosphere, 12, 3361-3372, <https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3361-2018>, 2018. <https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/3361/2018/>

Hodgson, Dominic A., Jordan, Tom A., de Rydt, Jan, Fretwell, Peter T., Seddon, Samuel A., Becker, David, Hogan, Kelly A., Smith, Andrew M. and Vaughan, David G. (2019) Past and future dynamics of the Brunt Ice Shelf from seabed bathymetry and ice shelf geometry. The Cryosphere, 13. pp. 545-556. ISSN 1994-0440 <http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/tc-2018-206>

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: A thorough and well-sourced answer, thank you!  

---

