The National Ice Center of the United States (USNIC) confirmed that a new iceberg has broken off the giant iceberg A-68A Bee South Atlantic Ocean, with 53 kilometers long and up to 18 wide.
This phenomenon caused a large crack in the A-68A near where the new floating iceberg was released, called A-68G. If that slice produces another piece in the next few days, it will be big enough to be named as well.
The A-68G was first discovered by Laura Gerrish of the British Antarctic Survey and confirmed by USNIC ice analyst Michael Lowe using images from the Sentinel-1A January 28.
The December 23, 2020 photo shows a smaller iceberg that has separated from one of the largest icebergs ever, called A68a, floating near South Georgia Island in the South Atlantic Ocean. (Corporal Phil Dye / Ministry of Defense via AP)
A-68A, the largest known iceberg, eventually drifted southeast towards South Georgia, true catastrophe was feared because of the rich ecosystem when the iceberg ran aground off the coast and the sea in the area saw the presence of fresh water increase due to the thaw.
The concern of the iceberg’s journey was given because it was very close to the edge of the island’s underwater platform, an area where the water becomes relatively shallow: there it is less than 200 meters deep. Scientists believed that the iceberg’s keel was understood well below the waterline, which meant it could snag on the sea floor and stay there. But that did not happen in the end.
Until December 2020, the A-68A was the largest iceberg in the world of those that existed at the time, but the size of the main core was reduced by nearly half after the breakup of three of its outer parts. Now, with the new estate, it got even smaller and made way for the A-68G.
a split in one of the largest icebergs ever, called A68a, floating near the island of South Georgia in the South Atlantic Ocean. (Corporal Phil Dye / Ministry of Defense via AP)
Data released by the European Space Agency on December 23 indicates that most of the iceberg currently covers an area of 2,606 square kilometers, while at the time of its formation – in July 2017- it was about 5,664 square kilometers.
Since its “birth” in 2017, the iceberg has traveled thousands of miles from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica. In this southern summer, the large floating ice island disintegrated at an accelerated rate.