Ice shelves are already floating on the ocean, so when they break apart they don’t directly lead to a rise on ocean levels.(Photo : EITAN ABRAMOVICH/AFP via Getty Images)Ī new satellite image taken by US space authorities and made available by Live Science showed that A-76A has entered the Drake Passage near the icy continent but could eventually accelerate its course towards its death. “When you lose a large area there’s always a chance the remaining shelf will be more unstable,” she said.ĭr Andrew Fleming, also of the British Antarctic Survey, told the BBC that A-68A could also spin around South Georgia and head into warmer waters, where it could break apart much faster. Ice shelves to the north had gone through disintegration events and there was speculation that Larsen C was also vulnerable to disintegration. If you get one stuck in the wrong place it can affect shipping.”Ĭook said the release of icebergs was natural and there was nothing about the size of A-68A that was particularly unusual “but this is happening in a region where there’s a lot of change”.
“It scrapes along the seafloor and affects those communities of animals there. She agreed that depending on where the iceberg ended up it could disrupt the routes that animals used to get to feeding grounds.Ī satellite image of A-68A floating about 230km west-southwest of the South Orkney Islands in Antarctica in April. Because most of it is under water, it will project a long way underneath which means it’s easy for it to run aground, and that’s also common.” “It’s about 500km off South Georgia at the moment, but given it’s 150km long that’s not very far and I can see why people would be concerned. “It’s hard for us to predict exactly where it will end up,” Cook said. In April, the iceberg was 230km west-southwest of the South Orkney Islands. South Georgia is 165km long and 35km wide. The chunk broke away from Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf in July 2017 and, at the time, was about 175km long and about 50km wide – bigger than Luxembourg.Īccording to the European Space Agency, the iceberg lost a chunk early, sparking a naming convention where the largest section was renamed from A-68 to A-68A and the smaller piece A-68B.Ī-68A lost another piece in April 2020 (spawning A-68C) and is now about 150km long and 48km wide. “That would make a very big difference, not just to the ecosystem of South Georgia, but its economy as well,” he said.
Tarling said while the ecosystems would bounce back there was a risk the iceberg could sit around for a decade. If they have to do a big detour, it means they’re not going to get back to their young in time to prevent them starving to death in the interim.” “When you’re talking about penguins and seals during the period that’s really crucial to them – during pup and chick-rearing – the actual distance they have to travel to find food really matters. “A close-in iceberg has massive implications for where land-based predators might be able to forage,” he said. Prof Geraint Tarling of the British Antarctic Survey told the BBC he was concerned about the iceberg’s potential to impact South Georgia. The thin profile of the iceberg, which has been monitored by satellites, may make it more liable to float closer to South Georgia before getting stuck on the ocean floor. The giant floating ice island, which is only about 200 metres thick, could break apart or run aground. “It’s lasted for three years which is longer than was expected,” she said.Ĭook said weather patterns, currents and the shape of the iceberg made predictions difficult. She told the Guardian the iceberg was following a familiar track to many others, but its ultimate fate was very hard to predict.
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