Nearly 40 years after breaking off Antarctica, a colossal iceberg ranked among the largest and oldest ever recorded is now breaking apart in warm waters and could disappear within next weeks.
However, the colossal iceberg was so massive that it could pose a threat to the feeding grounds of penguins on a remote South Atlantic Island.
Earlier it was measured 3100 square kilometers; it has now shrunk to approximately 1,770 square kilometers with the widest point of 60 kilometers.
In recent times, the world’s largest iceberg, A23a which weighed a trillion tons and is now rapidly breaking up in warm waters after a journey of nearly 40 years.
A physical oceanographer from the British Antarctic Survey told AFP, “I’d say it’s very much on its way out…it’s basically rotting underneath."
"The water is way too warm for it to maintain. It’s constantly melting,” he further explained.
A23a remained grounded on the seabed for years and did not immediately begin its journey into the open ocean.
It became stuck on the seabed of the Weddell Sea and remained submerged there for more than 30 years.
Owing to its exposure to progressively warm waters and buffeted by huge waves, A23a has rapidly begun to disintegrate.
Iceberg calving is a natural part of the glacier's life cycle, but scientists are observing the rate at which they are breaking off from Antarctica is increasing and alarming.