Iceberg the world’s largest is back in motion, floating on Ocean South after months of being stuck spinning in the same location, according to scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).
With an area of 3,672 square kilometers as of measurements last August, iceberg A23a has been closely monitored by scientists since it broke away from the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf in 1986.
The iceberg was stuck at the bottom of the Weddell Sea, Antarctica, for more than 30 years, possibly until its size shrank enough to release its grip from the seabed.
After that, the iceberg was carried away by ocean currents before becoming trapped again in a Taylor column, the term given to a rotating whirlpool caused by ocean currents hitting an underwater mountain.
Now that it has managed to move freely, scientists predict this iceberg will continue to drift along ocean currents into warmer waters and towards the remote island of South Georgia. There, the iceberg will likely break apart and eventually melt, according to a BAS statement released on Friday.
A23a has held the title of “current largest iceberg” several times since the 1980s, although it was surpassed by other larger but short-lived icebergs, such as A68 in 2017 and A76 in 2021.
Scientists say that, although these icebergs are likely detached as part of the natural cycle of ice sheet growth and will not contribute to sea level rise, climate change is driving worrying changes on this vast and remote continent, with potentially serious consequences for global sea level rise. .
During these iceberg journeys, scientists study the erosion that occurs and how sea ice affects the carbon and nutrient cycles of oceans around the world.
“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,” Laura Taylor, a biogeochemist who collects water samples around the icebergs, said in a BAS statement.
“What we don’t know yet is the difference that particular icebergs, their scale and origin can make to the process.
“We took samples from the sea surface behind, right next to, and in front of this iceberg’s path. These samples will help us determine what life could have formed around A23a and how this affects carbon in the ocean and its balance with the atmosphere.” (CNN/Z-3)
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