The largest iceberg in the world, the A23a, is back on the move after spending almost 40 years stranded on the seabed, according to the BBC. The huge block of ice separated from the Antarctica in 1986 and until now had remained anchored and immobile in the But the Weddell as if it were an island of ice.
This iceberg is the largest in the world thanks to its incredible dimensions. It measures 400 meters, more than the Empire State of New York that measures 380. It also occupies about 4,000 square kilometers, half of the province of Barcelona.
A23a was created after a gigantic tear in the Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986. At that time, a Soviet scientific base was located on its surface, the Druzhnaya 1which was dismantled.
Already in 2020, small movements began to be detected that predicted that the iceberg’s disassembly was close. Now, scientists have confirmed that the enormous block of ice is free and is heading towards the so-called ‘iceberg alley’.
This passage, where most icebergs in the Weddell Sea end up when pushed by the Running Antarctic Circumpolar, flows into the South Atlantic Ocean. Although the most likely thing, according to experts, is that it will end up running aground again in an area near the South Georgia Islandsan archipelago of the group called the South Antilles, managed by the United Kingdom.
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