For the first time in over three decades, scientists reported on Friday that the world's largest iceberg, known as A23a, is on the move. Spanning nearly 4,000 square km (1,500 square miles), this Antarctic iceberg is approximately three times the size of New York City.
After calving from West Antarctica's Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in 1986, the iceberg, which once housed a Soviet research station, remained mostly stationary when its base became lodged on the floor of the Weddell Sea.
According to a report of Reuters, Not anymore. Recent satellite images reveal that the berg, weighing nearly a trillion metric tonnes, is now drifting quickly past the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, aided by strong winds and currents. It's rare to see an iceberg of this size on the move, said British Antarctic Survey glaciologist Oliver Marsh, so scientists will be watching its trajectory closely.
Gathering momentum, the enormous iceberg is expected to be propelled into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. This trajectory will guide it towards the Southern Ocean, following a route commonly referred to as "iceberg alley," where similar icebergs can be observed floating in the deep waters.
Over time it's probably just thinned slightly and got that little bit of extra buoyancy that's allowed it to lift off the ocean floor and get pushed by ocean currents, said Marsh. A23a is also among the world's oldest icebergs.