Iceberg 109 miles long and 16 miles wide breaks off Antarctica
20 May 2021, 17:47
A slab of ice bigger than the island of Majorca has broken off Antarctica and is floating free in the sea, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).
The iceberg, named A-76, is 109 miles long and 16 miles wide.
It was spotted by the British Antarctic Survey and confirmed by the US National Ice Center using satellite images.
The ESA shared an animation of the iceberg splitting from the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Relive the birth of the #A76 iceberg with this stunning animation!
— ESA EarthObservation (@ESA_EO) May 20, 2021
The animation was created using four @CopernicusEU #Sentinel1 images and shows the giant slab of ice breaking off from the Ronne Ice Shelf on 13 May 2021.
A-76 is currently the biggest iceberg in the world😱 pic.twitter.com/h97PbYdo0y
The imagery came from Copernicus Sentinel-1, which consists of two polar-orbiting satellites.
Glacier geophysicist at British Antarctic Survey, Alex Brisbourne, said: "It’s not an area that is undergoing any significant change because of global heating. The main message is it’s part of a natural cycle."
He later added: "It’s big enough to influence the ocean, and the salinity of the ocean. Depending on the trajectory, it could be as significant as A-68A."
A-68A was one of the largest icebergs of all time and broke from the Larsen-C Ice Shelf in 2017.
Before A-76 was discovered, the largest iceberg to break off in the Weddell Sea - A-23A - was approximately 3880 sq km.
The A-74 iceberg that broke off the Brunt Ice Shelf in February was only 1270 sq km in comparison.
The ESA explained that icebergs are named after the area in which they are first seen, a sequential number and, if they break, another sequential letter.
