World's largest iceberg is falling apart, scientists say

"Going back to early this year, the megaberg weighed around one trillion tonnes - about 100 million times as heavy as the Eiffel Tower in Paris. At its peak, A23a was around 1,540 sq miles in area - more than twice the size of Greater London (607 sq miles) - and a whopping 1,312 feet thick. Now, it is 683 square miles and 37 miles at its widest point, according to AFP analysis of satellite images, making it less than half its original size."

"Now exposed to increasingly warmer waters and buffeted by huge waves, the former 'king of the seas' has rapidly disintegrated. Mr Andrew Meijers, a physical oceanographer at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), said A23a has been 'breaking up fairly dramatically' as it drifts further north. 'Oh I'd say it's very much on its way out... it's basically rotting underneath,' Meijers told AFP. '[Recently] the water is way too warm for it to maintain. It's constantly melting.'"

A23a, once the world's largest iceberg, has fragmented and shrunk dramatically after drifting north into warmer South Atlantic waters. The megaberg weighed about one trillion tonnes earlier this year, covered roughly 1,540 square miles and measured about 1,312 feet thick at its peak. Satellite analysis now shows it at approximately 683 square miles and 37 miles at its widest, less than half its original area. Large chunks near 150 square miles have broken off, with many smaller but still hazardous fragments surrounding it. Wave-driven erosion and warm water melting are accelerating its breakup, and disappearance within weeks is expected.

Read at Mail Online