MOSCOW, July 18 The world's largest iceberg, which ran aground 30 years ago, has begun an active drift at a speed of over 150 kilometers per month along the coast of Antarctica, the press service reported Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI).
«Specialists of the Center for Ice and Hydrometeorological Information (TsLGMI) of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute are observing the movement of the largest iceberg on the planet A23a, where the Soviet seasonal scientific base Druzhnaya-1 was previously located. At the beginning of the Antarctic winter, more than 30 years after separation from the Antarctic glacier, it began an active drift at a speed of more than 150 km per month. Currently, the iceberg is moving in the Weddell Sea along the coast of Antarctica,» the message says.
Icebergs can pose a potential hazard to commercial and fishing vessels, so scientists are constantly monitoring their movement.
< br />Iceberg A23a is the largest iceberg in the world according to the US National Ice Center nomenclature. Its area is about 4.17 thousand square kilometers, which is more than twice the area of St. Petersburg.
In September 1986, the outer edge of the Filchner Ice Shelf broke away. Three giant icebergs formed at the breakaway site, one of which housed the seasonal base Druzhnaya-1 of the Soviet Antarctic Expedition, which was organized by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. In February 1987, the institute's specialists landed on the iceberg and safely evacuated the equipment. Later, the largest of the icebergs ran aground near the southern edge of the underwater Berkner Bank, located in the southern Weddell Sea and north of the outer edge of the Filchner Ice Shelf, thereby effectively turning into an ice island for many decades.
According to the AARI, the future of the iceberg A23a depends on many factors: the impact of currents, protrusions of the underwater relief, meteorological factors, but in the end, the days of the iceberg's life are numbered — it will be brought to «clean water», most likely already this year.
Based in St. Petersburg, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) is the world's leading research center for the study of the Earth's polar regions. The Institute carries out the entire cycle of work at high latitudes in the interests of the Russian Federation and commercial companies.