NASA’s satellite imagery from late May shows A-76A, an iceberg twice the size of Los Angeles, has broken into several pieces near South Georgia Island.
Broken pieces of the world’s largest iceberg A-76A captured by NASA’s Terra satellite on May 24. Image: NASA Earth Observatory/MODIS/Wanmei Liang
A-76A is the largest remaining piece of A-76, an iceberg covering approximately 4,320 square kilometers, measuring 170 kilometers in length and 25 kilometers in width, which broke off from the Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica in May 2021. By October 2022, satellite images showed A-76A had shrunk to about 135 kilometers in length and 26 kilometers in width as it entered the waters of the “Drake Passage,” where icebergs are often carried away by strong ocean currents from Antarctica.
On May 24, NASA’s Terra satellite captured new images of six pieces of A-76A drifting apart near South Georgia Island in the Scotia Sea, indicating that the massive iceberg had broken apart a few days prior, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory. The debris is approximately 2,415 kilometers from where A-76 separated from Antarctica in 2021.
“It’s impressive how far it has drifted in just about two years. This clearly demonstrates the strength of the ocean currents in this region of the Southern Ocean,” commented Christopher Shuman, a glaciologist at the University of Maryland and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
The previous largest iceberg, A-68A, also fragmented near South Georgia in December 2020 after drifting through the Drake Passage. A-76A did not directly collide with South Georgia but could still impact the surrounding marine ecosystem. In mid-2021, when A-68A completely melted, scientists estimated it released about 900 million tons of freshwater into the ocean, much of which flowed near South Georgia. It is likely that A-76A will also discharge a significant amount of freshwater, affecting the marine food web.
Mark Belchier, director of the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands Fisheries and Environmental Agency, warned that new ice fragments will continue to break off and could pose a significant concern for vessels operating in the area.
