an iceberg that is twice as large as New York City has started to detach from Antarctica, yet surprisingly, this is far from being the largest iceberg globally. There exists an iceberg that is not only bigger than the city; it’s slightly larger than the entirety of Long Island. The impressive 1,418 square mile ice formation known scientifically as A23a has held the title of the world’s largest iceberg for over thirty years, but its reign at the summit is nearing an end.
A23a commenced its journey as a portion of the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf located on the Atlantic side of Antarctica. In 1986, it separated from the landmass, plunging into the ocean beneath. Its astonishing surface area was impressive, yet as the saying goes, that was merely the tip of the iceberg. Taking into account its total mass, scientists estimated A23a’s weight to exceed one trillion tons.
Once A23a detached from the Antarctic land, it started to drift northward, but it didn’t travel very far. It turns out that the iceberg was so massive that its base scraped along the ocean floor. This led to A23a becoming lodged in the Weddell Sea, a body of water next to the Antarctic Peninsula, not far from the convergence of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It remained there for almost 40 years, becoming not just the largest but also the oldest iceberg in existence. However, it seems that A23a’s extraordinarily lengthy existence is nearing its conclusion.
