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A fragment broke away from the largest iceberg of the world. “This is the first significant shard”

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The largest iceberg of the world has just decreased. On Friday, in the satellite photos of the object called A23A, scientists noticed a broken fragment with a length of 19 kilometers. As they explained, this may be the first sign that the Antarctic giant is falling apart.

A fragment of the A23A Ice Mountain separated between Thursday and Friday. On January 31, in the satellite pictures of the object, the researchers noticed a huge ice block that moved away from the main body of the giant. The building was 19 kilometers long and an area of ​​about 80 square kilometers – it is more than the San Marino area, of 61 square kilometers.

“This is the first significant shard of this iceberg that we were able to observe,” said Andrew Meijers, an oceanographer from the British Antarctic Survey organization dealing with Antarctica research.

Mysterious future

As the scientist explained, the icebergs are full of cracks, which in time deepen and expand. The first large shard is a sign that the processes of breakup began in A23A. However, it is difficult to say when the Antarctic giant will cease to exist. There are known cases of huge icebergs that began to lose large pieces and broke up in a few weeks, but this is not the rule.

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“It is really difficult to say whether it will fall apart now or hold on for some time,” said Meijers.

Ice mountain A23A, satellite photo from 31.01.2025NASA Worldview

The largest iceberg of the world

This is the first such rapid breakdown of A23A, but when flowing north the object loses ice all the time. According to BBC estimates, the mountain once had an area of ​​3900 km2 – more than the Spanish Majorca or Greek Eubea. The analysis of satellite photos indicated, however, that the block had decreased – before the fragment broke it covered an area of ​​about 3500 km2.

This is still enough to recognize her as the world's greatest mountain. The A23A scale is difficult to imagine – for comparison Warsaw It covers an area of ​​517 km2, and the entire metropolitan area of ​​London – 1572 km2.

A23a broke away from the Ronne-Filchner shelf glacier in Antarctica in 1986, but for many years she remained in place. The ice block only freed itself in 2020 and began to drift around the Arctic Ocean. Currently, it is on a collision course with South Georgia, a valuable natural habitat inhabited by many species of birds and mammals.

Source of the main photo: NASA Worldview



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