The largest iceberg on the planet is on the loose

After swirling in a spiral for months, the world’s largest and oldest iceberg has begun moving again.

Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey announced on Friday that the massive iceberg, called A23a, is floating across the Southern Ocean. An iceberg expedition provides a great opportunity for scientists to study how giant icebergs affect their surrounding ecosystems.

“It is exciting to see A23a moving again after periods of downtime. We are interested to see if it will follow the same path as other large icebergs that have broken off from Antarctica.” statement“More importantly what impact this will have on the local ecosystem.”

A23a weighs nearly a trillion tons, and as of August, spanned 1,418 square miles (3,672 square kilometers), making it twice the size of Greater London, or slightly larger than Rhode Island, according to CNN. It has repeatedly claimed the title of the world’s largest iceberg, beating out many top contenders.

A23a has been disconnected of the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf in West Antarctica in 1986 as a result of natural processes, but almost immediately settled on the sea floor north of the South Orkney Islands. In 2020, it broke free and floated in the Weddell Sea until it became trapped in the Taylor Plume, an ocean phenomenon that traps objects drifting over underwater mountains in eddies.

Do you want to be free!?

Well, you’re not alone – the iceberg #A23aThe largest and oldest in the world #IcebergOn the move!

Learn how to escape 👇https://t.co/MQHd8TfVSL pic.twitter.com/G3J0U2KfFz

– British Antarctic Survey 🐧 (BAS_News) December 13, 2024

A23a recently escaped the swirling waters that kept it in place, according to BAS. Scientists expect the iceberg to drift along the Antarctic Circumpolar Current toward the warmer waters around South Georgia Island, where it will likely break into countless smaller pieces and eventually melt.

One year ago, British Antarctic Survey researchers observed A23a while studying polar ecosystems in the Weddell Sea for a year. People Project. From RRS Sir David Attenborough On board a research ship, they photographed the massive iceberg and collected samples of the waters near it.

“We know that these giant icebergs can provide nutrients to the water that passes through them, creating thriving ecosystems in less productive areas. What we don’t know is what difference they could make,” says Laura Taylor, a biogeochemist at BIOPOLE. “Specific icebergs, their size and their origins in this process.”

“We sampled ocean surface water behind the iceberg’s path, right next to it, and before it,” she adds. “They should help us determine what life could form around A23a and how it affects carbon in the ocean and its balance with the atmosphere.”

It remains to be seen how long A23a will remain the world’s largest iceberg, and what its oceanic journey will reveal about Antarctica’s marine ecosystems. I have a feeling we’ve only reached the tip of the iceberg!