The world’s largest iceberg has not moved for more than 30 years, but is now moving ever faster from Antarctic waters to the Atlantic Ocean. This is what images from the ESA satellite ‘Sentinel-3’ show, British researchers report.
The nearly 4,000-square-kilometer ice mass called A23a broke loose last year from the bottom of the Weddell Sea, where it had grown after calving in 1986, and floated away.
The iceberg A23a is a true colossus and it is not only its width that is impressive. The ice sheet is about 400 meters thick. For comparison: ‘The Shard’ in London, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, is only 310 meters high.
“A real sprint”
“It had been at the bottom (of the Weddell Sea) since 1986, but at one point it became so small that it lost its balance and started moving,” the A23a has made a real splash in recent months. by wind and current and is now passing the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula,” Andrew Fleming of the British Association for Antarctic Research (BAS) was quoted as saying by the BBC.
“I asked some colleagues about this and wondered if there might be a change in water temperature on the shelf that could be causing this. But everyone agrees that the time was simply right,” said the BAS expert. According to the scientist, in 2020 he noticed the first movements of the iceberg.
Source: Krone
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.
