It has been stuck in the shallow waters of the South Georgia Island for months. He is already losing its edge, eroded by the waves and the recent southern summer. The world’s largest iceberg melts.
NASA’s Aqua Satellite Modis instrument captured this image of the iceberg, called A-23a, on May 3, 2025. The huge iceberg was less than 100 kilometers from South Georgia. This is part of a remote archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is located northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula and quite east of the southern end of South America.
Adrift
It is very likely that the lower part of the iceberg is on a shallow underwater platform around Georgia del Sur. It is known for having hooked several Antarctic icebergs in its drift to the north, towards the warmest waters of the South Atlantic. Satellite images show that the iceberg has remained motionless since at least March 2025. NASA reports.
His position remained practically unchanged. But the iceberg surface has decreased considerably in just two months. The A-23A was extended by 3,900 square kilometers. But he lost more than 360 square kilometers between March 6 and May 3. It is approximately double the size of Washington DC.
Thousands of iceberg fragments are scattered on the ocean surface near the main iceberg. They create a scene that remembers a dark and starry night. These fragments seem small in the image, many measure at least one kilometer in diameter and could represent a risk for ships.
It wears out
The world’s largest iceberg melts and is increasingly fragile. Edge wear is one of the three types of icebergs detachment observed by scientists through satellite images. It occurs when small pieces of ice are detached from numerous points. They reduce their area retaining its general form. They can also fracture into several large fragments or disintegrate completely. His destiny is uncertain.
More than 90 % of Antarctica’s icebergs follow a similar route. They enter the stream of the Weddell turn, which flows in a schedule, compared to Eastern Antarctica. Then they go north. They all ended up melting.
