After 30 years of standstill: the largest iceberg in the world suddenly moves

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It is a force of nature: the largest iceberg in the world, also called A23a, is more than twice the size of the British capital London. The colossus is about 400 meters thick and covers an area of ​​almost 4,000 square kilometers. It has been stuck on the Antarctic seabed for decades, but suddenly moves.

In 1986, the colossus broke off from the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf (permanent ice cover in Antarctica), calved and subsequently landed at the bottom of the Antarctic Weddell Sea. Since then it has formed a kind of ice island there.

As researchers Ella Gilbert and Oliver Marsh of the British Antarctic Survey told CNN, the iceberg likely broke off as part of the ice shelf’s natural growth cycle. However, they also point out that climate change is causing changes in Antarctica’s ice, and the continent is losing huge amounts of ice every year.

Iceberg starts moving

In 2020, the A23a suddenly seemed to come back to life. According to satellite images, it started moving slowly. However, in the last few months the speed has really increased, driven by wind and currents. Now it is even about to pass the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.

“I asked some colleagues if there might have been a change in the temperature of the sulfur water that could have caused this,” researcher Andrew Fleming of the British Antarctic Survey told the BBC. “But we agreed that his time had simply come,” he continues.

A23a is currently moving eastward, carried by ocean currents, and currently travels about three miles per day. The ice behemoth will now likely be removed from the Weddell sector like most icebergs and move to Iceberg Alley, a sort of waterway for icebergs. (ced)

Source: Blick