"A satellite image highlighted by NASA on its website last week shows the enormous iceberg "sopping with blue meltwater" as it drifts off the coast of the southern tip of South America - a "giant swimming pool, as New Scientist put it. The image, which was taken on December 26 by NASA's Terra satellite, shows pools of deep blue water visible on its surface, which, according to experts are clear signs of "ongoing disintegration events.""
"When it first detached in 1986, the ice giant known as A-23A was twice the size of Rhode Island, becoming one of the largest and oldest bergs to be tracked by scientists, according to NASA. In January 2025, it measured around 1,410 square miles, earning it the Guinness world record for the largest existing iceberg. It has since shrunk to a mere 456 square miles, roughly the size of Manhattan, by early January following several major pieces breaking off over the last year."
A-23A calved from the Antarctic ice sheet in 1986 and grew to one of the largest tracked icebergs, measuring about 1,410 square miles in January 2025. The berg later shrank to roughly 456 square miles after multiple major fragments broke off over the preceding year. Satellite imagery taken on December 26 shows extensive pools of deep blue meltwater on the surface and visible diagonal scour marks, which indicate structural weakening. Meltwater pooling increases pressure inside cracks and forces them open, accelerating ongoing disintegration as ocean and air temperatures continue to warm.
Read at Futurism
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]