New footage of a mammoth ‘megaberg’ floating near Antarctica has been captured by scientists.
British Antarctic Scientists aboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough collected samples of seawater around the A23a, the largest iceberg in the world.
It s 3900km2 and 400m tall. In comparison the Q1 tower on the Gold Coast is the nation’s tallest tower at 322m.
It calved from the Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986, before being grounded on the seabed nearby for decades.
Dr Andrew Meijers, Chief Scientist aboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough and Polar Oceans Science Leader at British Antarctic Survey (BAS), said the iceberg appeared in their path as it drafted out of the Weddell Sea.
“We’re fortunate that navigating A23a hasn’t had an impact on the tight timings for our science mission, and it is amazing to see this huge berg in person – it stretches as far as the eye can see,” Meijers said.
A23a is now likely to be swept along by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current into ‘iceberg alley’, putting it on a common iceberg trajectory towards the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, the BAS said.
The ship is on a mission to probe how Antarctic ecosystems and sea ice drive global ocean cycles of carbon and nutrients.
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Laura Taylor, a biogeochemist working on the cruise, dubbed BIOPOLE, explained the significance of the A23a samples.
“We know that these giant icebergs can provide nutrients to the waters they pass through, creating thriving ecosystems in otherwise less productive areas,” Taylor said.
“What we don’t know is what difference particular icebergs, their scale, and their origins can make to that process.
“We took samples of ocean surface waters behind, immediately adjacent to, and ahead of the iceberg’s route.
“They should help us determine what life could form around A23a, and how this iceberg and others like it impact carbon in the ocean and its balance with the atmosphere.”
