World’s biggest iceberg, A23a, weighs in at almost 1 trillion tons, scientists say, citing new data

The world’s largest iceberg, A23a, which has an space roughly thrice the scale of New York City, weighs in at almost 1 trillion tons, CBS News associate community BBC News experiences, citing data from the European Space Agency (ESA). Using data from the company’s CryoSat-2 mission, a spacecraft that carries a sort of radar capable of sense how a lot of an iceberg’s mass is above the water, scientists have been capable of work out details about how a lot is under the water.

A23a broke off from Antarctica in 1986 and almost instantly received caught after a deep part of it grounded on the seafloor. Recently, it turned dislodged and began drifting once more.

“Over the last decade, we have seen a steady 2.5m (about 8 feet) per year decrease in thickness, which is what you would expect given the water temperatures in the Weddell Sea,” Andy Ridout, a scientist from University College London and the Natural Environment Research Council Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, instructed CBS News associate community BBC News.

On the transfer as soon as extra, it is nonetheless unclear the place A23a will likely be carried by wind and ocean currents. The monumental iceberg has reached the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, the place quite a lot of completely different currents converge. 

It’s anticipated to float by an space often known as “iceberg alley,” the BBC stated, and its monitor will have an effect on whichever a part of the ocean and ocean ground it travels over.

Iceberg’s are “responsible for very deep mixing of seawater,” Mike Meredith, a professor from the British Antarctic Survey, instructed the BBC.

“They churn ocean waters, bringing nutrients up to the surface, and, of course, they also drop a lot of dust. All this will fertilize the ocean. You’ll often see phytoplankton blooms in their wake.”