These are radar images of the world’s largest iceberg. It’s about 4,000 square kilometers in size. And it’s been spinning on its axis for the past few months, according to observations.
That’s a very strange thing for icebergs to do. Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey are analyzing how the iceberg’s shape has changed in recent years. It’s been around for a long time. In 1986, it broke off the coast of Antarctica, then almost immediately ran aground in the Weddell Sea.
It stayed there for decades. Then it started moving again in 2020, heading for warmer air and water.
In April 2024, the iceberg ran aground in what’s called the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which moves 100 times faster than the normal currents in rivers and seas.
The iceberg was expected to move into the South Atlantic Sea, but it hasn’t moved at all. It remains north of the South Orkney Islands thanks to the so-called turbulent Couette Current. Scientists will continue to monitor A23A’s movements.
