Here’s some glacial recognition.
The biggest iceberg on the planet is on the move for the primary time in many years, barreling toward the Southern Ocean, scientists announced Friday.
The iceberg, often called A23a, is roughly 1,500 square miles — about 3 times the dimensions of Latest York City.
The large block of ice, which was once home to a Soviet research station, originally broke off from the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in West Antarctica in 1986. It’s been stranded within the Waddell Sea since its base became stuck on the ocean floor.
Now the nearly trillion metric ton chunk is quickly drifting past the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, fueled by strong winds and ocean currents, satellite images show.
“Over time it’s probably just thinned barely and got that little bit of additional buoyancy that’s allowed it to lift off the ocean floor and get pushed by ocean currents,” British Antarctic Survey glaciologist Oliver Marsh told Reuters, adding it’s rare to see an iceberg of this size on the move.
A23a, which is among the many world’s oldest icebergs, is being closely monitored by scientists because it heads north.
The iceberg will likely be launched into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. This can funnel it toward the Southern Ocean on a path often called “iceberg alley” where others of its kind could be found bobbing within the frigid waters.
Scientists are concerned that A23a could turn into grounded at South Georgia Island within the southern Atlantic, which could have a potentially disastrous impact on Antarctic wildlife.
Tens of millions of seals, penguins, and seabirds breed on the island and forage in the encompassing waters, which may very well be cut off by the enormous berg.
A crisis was averted in 2020 when one other iceberg, A68, appeared like it would collide with South Georgia but fortunately broke up into smaller pieces. A23a could meet an analogous fate, and even proceed traveling northward.
But “an iceberg of this scale has the potential to survive for quite a protracted time within the Southern Ocean, although it’s much warmer, and it could make its way farther north up toward South Africa where it will possibly disrupt shipping,” said Marsh.
With Post wires
Here’s some glacial recognition.
The biggest iceberg on the planet is on the move for the primary time in many years, barreling toward the Southern Ocean, scientists announced Friday.
The iceberg, often called A23a, is roughly 1,500 square miles — about 3 times the dimensions of Latest York City.
The large block of ice, which was once home to a Soviet research station, originally broke off from the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in West Antarctica in 1986. It’s been stranded within the Waddell Sea since its base became stuck on the ocean floor.
Now the nearly trillion metric ton chunk is quickly drifting past the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, fueled by strong winds and ocean currents, satellite images show.
“Over time it’s probably just thinned barely and got that little bit of additional buoyancy that’s allowed it to lift off the ocean floor and get pushed by ocean currents,” British Antarctic Survey glaciologist Oliver Marsh told Reuters, adding it’s rare to see an iceberg of this size on the move.
A23a, which is among the many world’s oldest icebergs, is being closely monitored by scientists because it heads north.
The iceberg will likely be launched into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. This can funnel it toward the Southern Ocean on a path often called “iceberg alley” where others of its kind could be found bobbing within the frigid waters.
Scientists are concerned that A23a could turn into grounded at South Georgia Island within the southern Atlantic, which could have a potentially disastrous impact on Antarctic wildlife.
Tens of millions of seals, penguins, and seabirds breed on the island and forage in the encompassing waters, which may very well be cut off by the enormous berg.
A crisis was averted in 2020 when one other iceberg, A68, appeared like it would collide with South Georgia but fortunately broke up into smaller pieces. A23a could meet an analogous fate, and even proceed traveling northward.
But “an iceberg of this scale has the potential to survive for quite a protracted time within the Southern Ocean, although it’s much warmer, and it could make its way farther north up toward South Africa where it will possibly disrupt shipping,” said Marsh.
With Post wires
