What’s happening

Due to natural processes, giant A23a broke away from the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in West Antarctica in 1986, but remained almost trapped on the seafloor north of the South Orkney Islands. He remained free until 2020 and spent some time swimming in the Weddell Sea. Eventually the glacier became trapped in a cloud called a Taylor plume, a phenomenon that traps objects in the ocean in large water eddies above seamounts. According to Channel 24’s news, based on the British Antarctic Survey, it has been rotating around its axis in this way until now.

It’s exciting to see A23a moving again after periods of being stuck. We wonder whether it will follow the same route as other large icebergs that have broken off from Antarctica. And more importantly, what impact will this have on the local ecosystem?
– says Andrew Meyers, oceanographer of the British Antarctic Survey.

A23a weighs approximately one trillion tonnes and had an area of ​​3,672 square kilometers as of August. It has repeatedly claimed the title of world’s largest iceberg, ahead of many major competitors.

Scientists showed a time-lapse of the iceberg’s movement over the years: video

Researchers tracking the iceberg predict that it will drift with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current into the warm waters around South Georgia Island, where it will break into countless smaller pieces and eventually melt.

Observation

A year ago, researchers from the British Antarctic Survey observed A23a while studying polar ecosystems in the Weddell Sea for the BIOPOLE project. They photographed the massive iceberg from the research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough and collected samples from nearby waters.

We know that these giant icebergs can provide nutrients to the waters they pass through and create thriving ecosystems in less productive areas. But we don’t know what effects individual icebergs, their scale and origins might have on this process.
says BIOPOLE biogeochemist Laura Taylor.

He adds: “We took samples of surface ocean water behind, immediately adjacent to and in front of the iceberg’s path. These will help us determine what life may have formed around A23a and how this affected the carbon content of the ocean and the stability of the iceberg.” atmosphere.”

It is not yet known how long A23a will remain the world’s largest iceberg. ocean voyage will teach us about the marine ecosystems of Antarctica.