Iceberg A23a is currently the largest iceberg in the world, measuring around 4,000 square kilometers, or 38 times the size of Paris. It broke away from the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf in Antarctica in 1986 and remained immobile for over 30 years, stuck at the bottom of the Weddell Sea.
However, recent satellite images show that it has begun to drift, driven by strong winds and currents. Scientists are monitoring its trajectory, as it now appears to be caught up in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), which would steer it towards the Southern Ocean, where it could potentially disrupt navigation.
Iceberg A23a is currently the largest iceberg in the world, measuring around 4,000 square kilometers, or 38 times the size of Paris.
In early April this year, A23a entered the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, a massive flow that moves a hundred times more water around the globe than all the Earth’s rivers put together. And surprise, it was stopped dead in its tracks by a type of vortex first described in the 1920s by physicist Sir Geoffrey Ingram Taylor, explains the BBC.
Since then, A23a has remained motionless, just north of the South Orkney Islands, rotating counter-clockwise by around 15 degrees a day. As long as it remains in this position, its degradation and eventual disappearance will be delayed.
A23a is a perfect illustration of the importance of understanding seabed morphology. Submarine mountains, canyons and slopes have a profound influence on the direction and mixing of water, as well as on the distribution of nutrients that stimulate biological activity in the ocean. This influence also extends to the climate system, as the massive movement of water helps disperse thermal energy around the globe.
In early April this year, iceberg A23a entered the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, a massive flow that moves a hundred times more water around the globe than all the Earth’s rivers put together.
The A23a iceberg is the largest in the world
Source: RTBS Actus
