MOSCOW, November 28. The world's largest iceberg A23a, which previously “slept for 30 years,” over the past Antarctic winter traveled from St. Petersburg to Krasnodar, the press service reported Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute.
“During the Antarctic winter, the iceberg, moving along the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, thanks to local circulation, traveled a distance of 1,118 nautical miles (2,070 kilometers), which, for comparison, corresponds to the distance from St. Petersburg to Krasnodar,” the report says.
During the drift, the iceberg did not suffer significant losses in area. Currently it is about 4170 square kilometers, which is twice the area of St. Petersburg.
Scientists expect that A23a will be picked up by ocean currents coming from Bransfield Strait to the east, then the iceberg will follow along the South Orkney Islands and will be carried into the Scotia Sea. In this case, according to experts, it will quite quickly cease to exist as a single whole under the influence of wind, waves and warm ocean waters. However, it is possible that the iceberg will be able to remain in the Weddell Gyre system, in which case its life will extend for several more years.
The story of the giant iceberg began in 1986, when it broke off from the outer edge of the Filchner Ice Shelf. For more than 30 years, the iceberg was stranded in the central Weddell Sea. However, in the spring of 2023, when it was winter in Antarctica, the iceberg began to actively drift towards the ice edge.
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