World's largest iceberg emerges from vortex, moving northward

A23a, spanning more than 1,212 feet in thickness, escapes from year-long entrapment in whirlpool

By Gokhan Celiker

ISTANBUL (AA) - The world's largest iceberg, A23a, caught in a whirlpool in Antarctica, has broken free and is flowing northward.

The British Antarctic Survey announced that the iceberg has drifted northward. Dr. Andrew Meijers, a marine scientist and researcher with the organization, noted that it is exciting that A23a is on the move again.

The surface area of A23a was measured to be about 4,000 square kilometers (1,544 square miles) and 400 meters (1,212 feet) in thickness.

A23a, which broke away from the Antarctic coastline in 1986 and ran aground in the Weddell Sea before turning into an “ice island.” It moved for the first time in more than 30 years last year and before it was caught in a huge whirlpool in the spring.

*Writing by Efe Ozkan

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