A23a, the world’s largest iceberg, moves through the Antarctic Ocean after 30 years without movement

2023-12-06 00:59:00

The largest iceberg in the world, called A23abegan moving on November 24 after 30 years trapped at the bottom of the ocean ande moves on a trajectory towards the Antarctic Ocean.

Measuring around 1,540 square miles (more than twice the size of Greater London (607 square miles)) and 1,312 feet thick, the ‘megaberg’ was captured by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) when it broke away from the Weddell Sea sector towards the Ocean.

A23a had originally broken off the Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986, but remained stranded on the seafloor until last week.

Satellite image of iceberg A23a. Photo: AFP.

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Rising water and air temperatures, caused by global warming, are generating instabilities along the coasts of Antarctica and Greenland, accelerating melting and increasing calving rates.

The videos and images were taken by the research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough. “It is incredibly fortunate that the iceberg’s path out of the Weddell Sea intersected directly with our planned trajectory and that we had the right team on board to take advantage of this opportunity,” said Dr. Andrew MeijersRRS Chief Scientist Sir David Attenborough and Scientific Lead for Polar Oceans at BAS.

“It’s amazing to see this huge iceberg in person – it stretches as far as the eye can see,” said Dr. Meijers, as recorded MailOnline.

Now, the researchers said, it is likely to be swept by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current toward “iceberg alley” on the subantarctic island of South Georgia.

Iceberg A23a is the largest in the world. Photo: British Antarctic Survey

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Scientists also took samples from the iceberg and hope this will help understand how climate change is affecting the Southern Ocean and the organisms that inhabit that ecosystem.

Laura Taylor, biogeochemist working on the mission, said: “We know that these giant icebergs can provide nutrients to the waters they pass through, creating thriving ecosystems in areas that would otherwise be less productive.”

‘What we don’t know is what difference certain icebergs, their scale and their origins can make in this process,’ he explained.

The samples taken, he considered, “should help us determine what life could form around A23a and how this iceberg and others like it influence the carbon in the ocean and its balance with the atmosphere.”

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