By: Izza Belle Basubas
A23a, a super-massive iceberg drifts away from the Antarctic, making it the largest of its kind in recorded history. Photo courtesy of Maxar Technologies via AP news
World's largest iceberg, drifted away from the Antarctic ocean floor after three decades, barreling toward the Southern Ocean, according to British Antarctic Survey satellite pictures released on Friday.
Iceberg named A23a, which is almost 4000 square kilometers, roughly three times the size of New York City, broke away from the Antarctic coastline in 1986, carved and grounded on Antartic’s Weddel floor for almost 37 years.
The British Antarctic Survey said the iceberg has probably shrunk enough to lose its grip on the seafloor as part of the natural growth of the ice shelf, which caused it to start moving.
“I asked a couple of colleagues about this, wondering if there was any possible change in shelf water temperatures that might have provoked it, but the consensus is the time has just come,” Dr. Andrew Fleming, a remote sensing expert from the British Antarctic Survey, told the BBC.
In 2022, the mass of ice was first spotted drifting, and as of this year, it appears to be picking up speed as it moves past its head eastward and is currently traveling three miles a day, helped by wind and ocean currents, scientists added.
As the scientists expected that the A23a would likely launch into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, they are concerned that the block of ice would become grounded at South Georgia Island in the Southern Atlantic, which could potentially have disastrous effects on the Antarctic wildlife.
The movement of A23a’s occurs after almost 10 months of Antarctic Brunt Ice Shelf broke free, which lies across the Weddell Sea.
Scientists said a particular iceberg breaking away is a natural occurrence, climate change is driving changes in Antarctica's ice and the continent is losing enormous quantities of ice every year.