Giant iceberg breaks off east Antarctica

A block of ice more than 1,500 square kilometres in area has broken off the Amery Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

The tabular iceberg, officially named D28, broke away on September 26.

Scientists say the event is part of a normal cycle and is not related to climate change.

The last major calving at the shelf occurred in the early 1960s, NASA said, when a block measuring roughly 9,800 square kilometres broke off.