Mega 1,000,000,000,000 tonne iceberg drifting in the ocean after breaking away
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To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. An iceberg twice the size of Greater London and weighing more than a trillion tonnes is making a bid for freedom.
![[The world's largest iceberg, A23a, in the Scotia Sea between Antarctica and South Georgia]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233444288-b41b.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
The ‘megaberg’, named A23a,has begun ‘spinning’ for the first time in almost 30 years after becoming stuck in a vortex off Antarctica. The huge iceberg, which is 3,800 square kilometres, broke free of Antarctica in 1986 but, because of its size, became lodged on the floor of the Weddell Sea in the Southern Ocean.
![[ANKARA, TURKIYE - AUGUST 23: An infographic titled 'The world's largest iceberg has been spinning in a vortex for months' created in Ankara, Turkiye on August 23, 2024. The world's largest iceberg has been spinning in a vortex for months. (Photo by Murat Usubali/Anadolu via Getty Images)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233444299-4593.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
A23a first began slowly moving south in 2020 but became trapped in what’s called a Taylor Column in spring of this year. A Taylor Column is a phenomenon where rotating water above a seamount traps an object in its place. But after months of spinning, satellite footage has confirmed that the giant iceberg has finally released from the swirling waters.
Doctor Andrew Meijers, an oceanographer at the BAS, commented: ‘It’s exciting to see A23a on the move again after periods of being stuck. ‘We are interested to see if it will take the same route the other large icebergs that have calved off Antarctica have taken.’.
BAS experts now expect the mega iceberg to continue its drift into the Southern Ocean where it will eventually reach the Atlantic. Once it reaches the Atlantic, A23a is expected to melt due to increased temperatures. The South Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of South America, is usually around 5°C, which is considerably warmer than the Southern Ocean.
