Nov 24, 2023 at 4:38 p.m
After being stuck on the seabed near Antarctica for thirty years, ice floe A23a, as the ice shelf is called, has started moving again. The ice floe, which is twice the size of the city of London, is now drifting towards the open sea.
The ice floe A23a came loose from Antarctica in 1986, but due to the thickness of the ice mass, the floe quickly became stuck on the seabed. The ice thickness of A23a is approximately 400 meters. The ice shots slowly started moving in the summer of 2020, but now seem definitively ‘loose’, writes the BBC.
According to Andrew Fleming, from the British Antarctic Survey research group, the ice floe has become thinner in recent years, causing it to slowly float again. Ice floe A23a is now floating near the northernmost tip of Antarctica, soon to end up in the South Atlantic Ocean.
Fleming says there is a chance the ice floes will run aground again off the British island of South Georgia. That would spell bad news for seals, penguins and other birds in the area. It could complicate the animals’ search for food.
For the time being, the suspected route of A23a will not cause any hindrance to shipping. Eventually the ice floe will melt entirely and disappear.
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2023-11-24 15:38:40
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