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#a23a

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Chuck Darwin

World’s biggest iceberg runs aground after a near-40-year journey from Antarctica

The world’s biggest iceberg appears to have run aground roughly 70km (43 miles) from a remote Antarctic island,
potentially sparing the crucial wildlife haven from being hit, a research organisation said Tuesday.

The colossal iceberg #A23a – which measures roughly 3,300 sq km and weighs nearly 1tn tonnes – has been drifting north from Antarctica towards South Georgia island since 2020.
This had raised fears it could collide with the island or run aground in shallower water near it,
potentially disrupting the ability of penguins and seals to feed their young.

It remains unclear whether the iceberg is stuck for good.

The gigantic wall of ice has been stuck 73km from the island since 1 March, according to a statement from the BAS.

“If the iceberg stays grounded, we don’t expect it to significantly affect the local wildlife,” Meijers said.

“In the last few decades, the many icebergs that end up taking this route through the Southern Ocean soon break up, disperse and melt,”
added Meijers, who encountered A23a in late 2023 and has tracked its fate via satellite ever since.

The world’s biggest and oldest iceberg calved from the Antarctic shelf in 1986.

It remained stuck for more than 30 years before finally breaking free in 2020,
its lumbering journey north sometimes delayed by ocean forces that kept it spinning in place
theguardian.com/environment/20

The Guardian · World’s biggest iceberg runs aground after a near-40-year journey from AntarcticaBy Guardian staff reporter
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Nonilex

[The parentheses are my edits / additions. When reviewing the study & the quotes by Dr. Brearley, the statement about #melting #icebergs not contributing to #SeaLevelRise appears to be specific only to icebergs that melt in a #TaylorColumn. The author of the article does not make that clear, which could lead to misunderstanding. The study was specific. Therefore #A23a’s melt will only NOT contribute to rising sea levels IF it STAYS within the vortex for the duration of its #melt.]

#Climate
Continued thread
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Nonilex

…[When] the largest iceberg in the world …[melts, it will not]… flood* the southern hemisphere. Melting icebergs & removal of floating ice shelves do not directly cause #SeaLevelRise*, Dr. Brearley said.

[*specifically due to melting in a #TaylorColumn; see pic & study link]

Brearley cited a 2015 study that observed a robotic float, in a fleet of instruments that drift in #ocean currents to measure water temp, trapped in a Taylor column for 4yrs NE of #A23a’s location.

agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.co

2015 Research article “Circulation, retention, and mixing of waters within the Weddell-Scotia Confluence, Southern Ocean: The role of stratified Taylor columns”
Continued thread
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Nonilex

“It’s basically just sitting there, spinning around & it will very slowly #melt — as long as it stays there. What we don’t know is how quickly it will… come out of this,” said Alex Brearley, an #oceanographer & head of Open #Oceans research grp at the British #Antarctic Survey.

…#Iceberg #A23a is caught in a #TaylorColumn, a current that forms around seamounts. Standard flow diverges around the mount & creates a stagnant cylinder of fluids above it, slowly rotating the water counterclockwise.

Continued thread
Public
Nonilex

Imagine a piece of ice ~1,500 sq miles in area & as deep as the Empire State Bldg spinning slowly but steadily enough to fully rotate it on its head over the course of ~24 days.

The #iceberg #A23a is spinning near the #SouthOrkneyIslands, ~375 miles NE of the #Antarctic Peninsula, “maintaining a chill 15° rotation per day,” the British Antarctic Survey, the UK’s polar research institute, said.

#Climate#ClimateCrisis#GlobalWarming
Public
Nonilex

For >30 years, the world’s largest #iceberg was stuck in the Antarctic. 5X the size of NYC’s land area & >1k feet deep, the mammoth piece of ice became loose in 2020 & began a slow drift toward the #SouthernOcean.

Now, #A23a, as it’s known, is spinning in place.
After leaving #Antarctic waters, the iceberg got stuck in a #vortex over a seamount….

#Climate #ClimateCrisis #GlobalWarming #ocean
nytimes.com/2024/08/07/science

The New York Times · After Breaking Free, World’s Largest Iceberg Is Stuck Spinning in CirclesBy Remy Tumin
Public
Barbara J. King

Tracking the world's biggest glacier: "Something remarkable has happened to A23a, the world's biggest iceberg.
For months now it has been spinning on the spot just north of Antarctica when really it should be racing along with Earth's most powerful ocean current." #glacier #A23a #ice #ocean #climate #Antarctica
bbc.com/news/articles/cd168081

www.bbc.comA23a: Colossal iceberg stuck spinning in ocean trapA frozen block of ice far bigger than Greater London is captured in a vast pool of rotating water.
Public
Benjamin Carr, Ph.D. 👨🏻‍💻🧬

World's largest #iceberg breaks free, heads toward #SouthernOcean
Recent satellite images reveal that the berg, weighing nearly a trillion metric tonnes, is now drifting quickly past the northern tip of the #Antarctic Peninsula, aided by strong winds and currents. At almost 4,000 square km (1,500 square miles), the Antarctic iceberg called #A23a is roughly three times the size of New York City. reuters.com/business/environme

Reuters · World's largest iceberg breaks free, heads toward Southern OceanBy Gloria Dickie
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