The iceberg was once one of the largest on record. Now it’s melting, and scientists are waiting to see how it’s going to impact South Georgia’s marine life.
Summary
- When the massive A68A iceberg snapped off its ice shelf in July 2017, it was the sixth-largest iceberg on record.
- The iceberg once measured roughly 5,719 square kilometers — nearly half the size of Connecticut — but it started to disintegrate once it arrived to the South Georgia island in the Atlantic Ocean.
- In the time it’s been around South Georgia, researchers found, the iceberg released roughly 152 billion tons of fresh water and nutrients into the ocean over the course of about three months.
- Observing the disintegration of the A68A iceberg from spaceThe study’s lead author Anne Braakmann-Folgmann said in a statement that the berg released a “huge amount of melt water.”
- “In this case, the penguins, seals and whales feeding in the waters around South Georgia could benefit from more food availability,” Braakmann-Folgmann said.