A huge iceberg the size of Sydney has broken away from east Antarctica, but scientists aren't blaming the fracture on climate change.

The 1636-square-kilometre iceberg "calved" from the Amery Ice Shelf last week.

The Amery Ice Shelf iceberg calving. Credit:Sentinel-1

The huge rift, at an area dubbed the "loose tooth", was first noticed at the front of the ice shelf in the early 2000s and has been closely monitored since.

"We don't think this event is linked to climate change," Scripps Institution of Oceanography Professor Helen Amanda Fricker said on Tuesday.