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A23a - the largest and oldest drifting iceberg in the world was discovered to have moved last Friday, after more than 30 years of remaining stationary. With an area of nearly 4000 km2, A23a is almost three times the size of New York City.
Since breaking away from the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in the Antarctic Peninsula in 1986, the base of the drifting iceberg has been stuck in the same spot until now. However, recent satellite images show A23a, weighing nearly 1 trillion tons, rapidly moving northward towards the Antarctic Peninsula, propelled by strong winds and currents.
Glacial rivers researcher Oliver Marsh, working at the Antarctic Survey Agency, stated that the movement of such a massive drifting iceberg is extremely rare, prompting scientists to closely monitor its trajectory.As the speed of movement increases, A23a may drift into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, a clockwise ocean current that flows from west to east around Antarctica. Subsequently, A23a might head towards the Southern Ocean, where numerous icebergs are floating.
Explaining why A23a is shifting, Marsh suggests that over time, A23a has thinned slightly, allowing it to float above the ocean floor and be pushed by ocean currents. It might eventually drift towards South Georgia Island, posing challenges for wildlife in the Antarctic. Millions of seals, penguins, and seabirds breed on the island and forage in the surrounding seas. A23a could obstruct their natural habitats.In 2020, another massive drifting iceberg named A68 raised concerns among scientists as it approached the South Georgia Islands, posing a risk of crushing marine life and disrupting the food chain. Fortunately, this catastrophe was averted as A68 broke into smaller pieces before reaching South Georgia.Scientists are hopeful that a similar scenario will unfold with A23a. Despite its immense size, drifting icebergs can endure for quite some time in the Southern Ocean, even in significantly warmer weather. A23a may also drift towards South Africa and impede transportation activities.Source: Reuters 
