Weighing in at a stout 1+ trillion tons and about twice the size of roughly three times the size of New York City, A23a Megaberg is the world’s largest iceberg.
The iceberg got it start back in 1986 when it calved from Antarctica’s Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf. Shortly there after it was grounded on the bed of the Weddell Sea were it spent the next 30 years before breaking free and drifting into the Southern Ocean.
A23a has recently been the source of much scientific intrigue after it spent months trapped in a Taylor Column, a phenomenon where rotating water above a seamount traps objects in place. The Taylor Column kept the megaberg in a floating but static position where it spun about 15 degrees counterclockwise everyday.
A23a is now free of the open water vortex and predicted to continue its journey north into the Southern Ocean toward the sub-Antarctic Island of South Georgia by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. At that point it will encounter warmer waters and is expected to break up into smaller icebergs and eventually melt.