The world's largest iceberg has run aground in the Atlantic Ocean

According to the organization, the ice block weighs almost a trillion tons and has twice the surface area of London. The iceberg broke off from the Filchner Glacier shelf in western Antarctica in 1986 and remained in place in the Weddell Sea for more than 30 years. In 2020, the currents carried him towards South Georgia.

"He's broke right now. It is even more likely to break due to increased loads, but this is almost impossible to predict. Large icebergs used to move far to the north...> but they all inevitably break apart and melt quickly afterwards," said BAS oceanographer Andrew Meyers.

According to the scientist, researchers will be extremely interested to see how the iceberg will affect the ecosystem around it. According to him, the collision of the ice block with the bottom lifted nutrients from the depths. This should increase the availability of food in the region, including for penguins and seals.

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Earlier, on February 1, the press service of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute of Russia reported that from A23a a block broke off about 80 square kilometers in size. This is about 2% of the iceberg area. Before that, on January 25, Roscosmos published satellite image of an iceberg.

On January 24, CNN reported that A23a threatens to collide with South Georgia. It was noted that for several months before that, the ice giant with an area of 3.5 thousand square kilometers was "trapped", rotating around an underwater mountain.