April 19, 2021

Andrew Campbell 

According to US National Ice Center (NIC),April 16 satellite data showed iceberg A68a had melted away after 3 years. Once the world’s largest iceberg, A68a is now broken into countless small fragments. In the beginning, the code-named A68 iceberg had broken off and detached itself from the Antarctic peninsula's Larsen C ice shelf sometime between July 10 and July 12 in 2017. The iceberg A68, which was larger than the US state of Delaware, had an area of 5,800 square kilometers (2,200 square miles) at an estimate of 350 meters (1,100 feet) thick.

One of the biggest icebergs ever recorded became A68a and continued its drift after a small piece, namely A68b, broke off. In 2020 it drifted on strong currents and winds into the southern Atlantic Ocean towards the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia Island.

The US NIC usually names, tracks, records, and studies Antarctic icebergs which are at least 20 square nautical miles or 10 nautical miles measured on its longest axis. Over the past 3 years, the A68a has been confronted with ocean waves, higher air temperatures, and warm seawater and gradually turned to melt. It could no longer put any environmental threat to the island's diverse wildlife such as penguins and the fragile critters in South Georgia.

Photo : webshot.