Iceberg A23a
The massive iceberg A23a was set to melt after breaking free from Antarctica in 1986, but this interruption in its journey is delaying its fate, experts say. This is the iceberg that refuses to die.
The world’s largest iceberg, which has been moving north from Antarctica since 2020, has stopped.
Instead of continuing its path toward warmer waters, it is now slowly spinning in an ocean vortex, according to new research. Publishing From the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) on X/Twitter.
The iceberg is now trapped in a rotating cylinder of water, which scientists call a “Taylor Column“, near the South Orkney Islands, located about 375 miles northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Every day, the iceberg, called A23a, Rotates about 15 degreesIt is not known exactly how long this pause in the iceberg’s journey north will last, as highlighted by Smithsonian.
“Basically, it’s just sitting there, spinning.He explains that it will melt very slowly as long as it stays there. Alex Brierleyoceanographer at BAS, in New York Times“What we don’t know is how quickly he will get out of this situation.”
“It may take a year.It may be a few years.“He could stay there for a long time,” he says. Ted Scambosa glaciologist at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Size Five times larger than Madeira IslandA23a was part of Antarctica. separated from the ice shelf Filchner-Ronne, on the northwest side of the continent, 1986.
When he left, He took the Soviet research station with him. Druzhnaya 1. The Soviets moved to the glacier to collect their equipment from the abandoned base in February 1987.
For 34 years, the iceberg had been motionless, stranded in the Weddell Sea, off the coast of West Antarctica. However, in 2020, A23a began to move. Last November, it crossed the Weddell Sea and entered the Southern Ocean.
Scientists predicted that the Antarctic Current would carry A23a on a path called the “Ice AlleyTowards the island of South Georgia in the South Atlantic Ocean, more than 800 kilometres southwest of South Georgia.
However, what led to the tip of the iceberg? Stop suddenly and start spinning. About yourself?
When the topography of the ocean floor blocks the flow of currents, it can create Rotating water cylinder Big enough to catch an iceberg.
“It’s very easy to create these things. Taylor Columns In an experiment using a rotating tank in the laboratory. But seeing this on a geophysical scale like this It’s really rare.“As you say, Even Wagnerwho studies sea ice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, NPR.
In January, BAS released an animation showing A23a moving north, leaving the Weddell Sea, on a path similar to that of the large iceberg A68a, which He also spent months spinning.NASA also captured images of A23a in the Southern Ocean in February.
As the icebergs follow the same path as the A23a eastward to warmer waters, they begin to melt. According to scientists, when trapped, A23a has delayed its merger..
“Icebergs are usually thought of as transient things; they break up and melt. But that’s not the case,” says the polar expert. Mark Brandonfrom the Open University in England.A23a is the iceberg that refuses to die.“
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