One of the world’s largest icebergs is drifting beyond Antarctic waters, after being grounded for more than three decades, according to the British Antarctic Survey.
The iceberg, known as A23a, split from the Antarctic’s Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986. But it became stuck to the ocean floor and had remained for many years in the Weddell Sea.
The iceberg is about three times the size of New York City and more than twice the size of Greater London, measuring around 4,000 square kilometers.
Andrew Fleming, a remote sensing expert from the British Antarctic Survey, told the BBC last week that the iceberg has been drifting for the past year and now appears to be picking up speed and moving past the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, helped by wind and ocean currents.
“It was grounded since 1986, but eventually it was going to decrease (in size) sufficiently was to lose grip and start moving,” Fleming told the BBC.
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