#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The world’s biggest iceberg, A23a, which is three times larger than St. Petersburg in area, has stopped again after a year of drifting.
“The largest iceberg on the planet, A23a, which broke off from the Antarctic glacier 38 years ago, got caught in an ocean vortex in the Scotia sea and stopped again. Having broken off in 1986, the ice giant stood aground in the Weddell sea for 30 years. Last spring, it suddenly began drifting along the shores of the Antarctic peninsula in the direction of the Scotia sea”, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute’s (AARI) press service reported.
It is specified that the iceberg area is 4366 square kilometers. The iceberg is slowly rotating, and is significantly affected by the Antarctic circumpolar current (ACC), which will eventually destroy it, TASS reports.
“The ACC warm waters continue to actively affect the iceberg underwater part, so it is highly likely that A23a will still break up, after which its parts will continue their journey to the Scotia sea. But due to the iceberg size, this may take quite a while”, said Sergey Kashin, a researcher at the AARI Oceanology department.
Earlier, This Is Taimyr reported that the seismic dynamics of Arctic glaciers was studied in Russia for the first time.
Text: Polina Bardik, Photo: Nikolay Shchipko
