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By John Feng and Shane Croucher
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The world's largest iceberg has run aground and may soon start breaking up, scientists at the British Antarctic Survey said.
A23a, as the iceberg is known, appears to have come to a standstill near the sub-Antarctic Island of South Georgia, around 90 kilometers (56 miles) from land.
It weighs nearly a trillion tonnes and is twice the size of Greater London.
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Why It Matters
The iceberg will likely break up over time due to warmer waters and the effect of waves and tides. The resulting smaller bergs will then melt into the ocean.
Oceanographers believe this will have little significant impact on local wildlife, but it could cause disruption—and dangerous hazards—to commercial fishing operations. Smaller bergs are harder to keep track of.
The pace of ice loss due to climate change is having drastic consequences for ocean circulation, sea levels and ecosystems.
What to Know
The BAS said satellite images show the iceberg is currently maintaining its structure, but it is almost impossible to predict for how long this will be true, or when it will break up.
While these icebergs are rare, such "megabergs" are not unknown, and they are a normal part of the lifecycle of ice sheets, as is their breaking up and melting.
Researchers are studying the biology around the iceberg as it melts, including phytoplankton, a vital part of the oceanic food chain.
Nutrients released from the melting iceberg can help support phytoplankton life, which in turn may aid carbon sequestration—the capture and storage of carbon dioxide—from the surface ocean to the deep, though scientists need to research this further.
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What People Are Saying
Dr Andrew Meijers, an oceanographer at British Antarctic Survey, who co-leads its OCEAN:ICE project, said in a statement: "It will be interesting to see what will happen now. From a scientific perspective we are keen to see how the iceberg will affect the local ecosystem. Nutrients stirred up by the grounding and from its melt may boost food availability for the whole regional ecosystem, including for charismatic penguins and seals. We have several ongoing studies looking at exactly how 'megabergs' influence the ocean circulation, its chemistry, and the ecosystems they support."
Professor Huw Griffiths from on board the Sir David Attenborough polar research ship told the BBC: "The future of all icebergs is that they will die. It's very surprising to see that A23a has lasted this long and only lost about a quarter of its area...Without ice, we wouldn't have these ecosystems. They are some of the most productive in the world, and support huge numbers of species and individual animals, and feed the biggest animals in the world like the blue whale."
What Happens Next
Scientists will continue to monitor and study the A23a iceberg to see if and how it breaks apart, and what impacts that process has on the local ecosystem in particular.
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