The largest iceberg on the planet is on the loose

After spinning in a vortex for months, the largest and oldest iceberg in the world is moving again.

Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey announced on Friday that the colossal iceberg, designated A23a, is floating through the Southern Ocean. The iceberg journey provides a significant opportunity for scientists to study how giant icebergs impact their surrounding ecosystems.

“It is exciting to see A23a moving again after periods of blocking. We are interested to see if it will take the same path that the other large icebergs that have been born from Antarctica have taken”, Andrew Meijers, oceanographer of British Antarctic Survey, noted in the British Antarctic Survey. declaration“And more importantly what impact this will have on the local ecosystem.”

A23a weighs nearly a trillion tons, and, as of August, spanned 1,418 square miles (3,672 square kilometers), making it twice the size of Greater London, or only slightly larger than Rhode Island, according to the CNN. It has repeatedly claimed the title of the world’s largest iceberg, over many great contenders.

A23a separated from the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf of West Antarctica in 1986 due to natural processes, but almost immediately became lodged on the seabed north of the South Orkney Islands. In 2020, it was released and floated in the Weddell Sea until it became trapped in a Taylor Column, a phenomenon in the oceans that traps objects that move on seamounts in vortices. water

I WANT TO FREE! ?

Well, you’re not alone – Iceberg #A23athe largest and oldest in the world #icebergit’s moving!

Learn how he escaped 👇https://t.co/MQHd8TfVSL pic.twitter.com/G3J0U2KfFz

— British Antarctic Survey 🐧 (@BAS_News) December 13, 2024

A23a narrowly escaped the swirling waters that kept it in place, according to BAS. Scientists expect the iceberg to move on the Antarctic Circumpolar Current toward the warmer waters around South Georgia Island, where it will likely break into countless smaller pieces and eventually melt.

A year ago, Antarctic Survey researchers observed A23a while studying polar ecosystems in the Weddell Sea for the BIOPOLE project. From the RRS Sir David Attenborough research vessels, have photographed the massive iceberg and collected samples from the waters in its vicinity.

“We know that these giant icebergs can provide nutrients to the waters they pass through, creating thriving ecosystems in otherwise less productive areas. What we don’t know is the difference that particular icebergs, their scale, and their origins can make to that process,” says Laura Taylor, biogeochemist at BIOPOLE.

“We took samples of the surface water of the ocean behind, immediately adjacent to and in front of the iceberg’s path,” he adds. “They will help us determine what life could form around A23a and how it impacts carbon in the ocean and its balance with the atmosphere.”

It remains to be seen how long A23a will remain the world’s largest iceberg, and what its oceanic journey will reveal about Antarctic marine ecosystems. I feel like we’ve only hit the tip of the literal iceberg!