The NIC makes sure that the birth of an iceberg does not go unnoticed. It keeps detailed records of Antarctic icebergs, including point of origin and current location. Like any new baby, they are named, measured and monitored.
Ice covers most of the Antarctic continent.
It flows slowly to the sea, where an ice shelf forms hundreds of feet thick over the water. Many years of tides and storms rock the shelf up and down, until a piece finally breaks off. The system for naming Antarctic icebergs has been in place since 1976. Think of the Antarctic continent as a pie, divided into four equal wedges. The icebergs that appear in each quadrant are numbered in sequence.