The world's largest iceberg breaks free from its trap. NASA published the recording

Iceberg A23a, called the world's largest iceberg, broke away from the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica in 1986. For decades it remained “glued” to the bottom in the Weddell Sea. It was only in 2020 that a block of ice with an area of ​​approximately 3,800 square kilometers began its journey across the Antarctic Ocean. Her journey didn't last very long. In early March 2024, A23a became trapped in a swirling vortex of water, a phenomenon called a Taylor column.

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For about eight months, the iceberg swirled in a location about 200 kilometers north of the South Orkney archipelago. According to Jan Lieser, a specialist with the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) who tracked the iceberg, A23a made 15 revolutions between March and November 2024.

“I don't know of an iceberg that gets trapped so persistently in such a small area,” Lieser said.

Last week, BAS scientists reported that A23a had been released.

In the animation published a few days ago by NASA Satellite photos show what happened to the iceberg between November 5 and December 16, 2024. It is worth noting that in mid-November the ice block spins, escapes from the vortex and continues its journey to the northeast.

Christopher Shuman, a University of Maryland scientist at the Robert H. Goddard Space Flight Center, estimated that the mountain had moved about 150 miles (240 kilometers) in the month after leaving the vortex. In other words, it traveled about 8 kilometers a day, turning towards the northeast.

It is still unclear what could have freed the iceberg from its trap.

“My hypothesis is that a random disturbance in the system could have caused a slight change in the 'ordinary' spin so that the iceberg found a path to the exit,” Lieser said.