11 DEZ. 2020
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In July 2017, the lump of ice, more than twice the size of Luxembourg, broke off Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf – spawning one of the largest icebergs on record. Now, three years later, the A68A berg is being carried by currents in open waters – thousands of kilometres from its birthplace – wreaking havoc near the waters of the South Georgia Island.
Follow the latest updates on the A-68A’s journey across the Southern Ocean.
1 February 2021 New images, captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission, show the iceberg suffered further damage as a new iceberg calved from A-68A. The smaller slab, named A-68G by the US National Ice Center, measures approximately 53 km in length and around 18 km at its widest point.
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30 January 2021 Satellite images reveal that the once colossal A-68A iceberg has had yet another shattering experience, breaking into multiple pieces. The collective group of icebergs appear to be drifting apart, which could indicate the end of A-68A’s environmental threat to South Georgia.
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17 December 2020 A large block of ice breaks off the upper tip of the A-68A iceberg, which has now spun around in a clockwise direction.
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11 December 2020 The giant A-68A iceberg could strike land this month – wreaking havoc near the waters of the South Georgia Island. If it remains on its current path, the iceberg could ground in the shallow waters offshore – threatening wildlife, including penguins and seals.
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1 December 2020 All eyes remain on the giant A-68A iceberg on its journey across the Southern Ocean. This image shows A-68A’s movements over the past 15 days using data from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-3 missions.
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A-68A on the move
26 November 2020 New images, captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission, show the A-68A berg is rotating and potentially drifting westwards.
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Iceberg A-68A: hit or miss?
5 July 2020 Copernicus Sentinel-1 captures the A-68A berg in open waters near the South Orkney Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean – about 1050 km from its birthplace.
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A look back to where it all began. Click through the slider below to see images and animations captured by satellites documenting A-68A's journey over the previous three years.
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A-68A in February 2020
Giant iceberg escapes
Giant berg on the move
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Is this the end of the A-68A iceberg?
Satellite images have revealed that the once colossal A-68A iceberg has had yet another shattering experience. Several large cracks were spotted in the berg last week and it has since broken into multiple pieces. These little icebergs could indicate the end of A-68A’s environmental threat to South Georgia.
Giant A-68A iceberg loses chunk of ice
A large block of ice has broken off the northern tip of the A-68A iceberg as seen in new images captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission.
Giant A-68 iceberg three years on
The colossus iceberg that split from Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf on 12 July 2017 is now in the open waters of the South Atlantic near the South Orkney Islands, about 1050 km from its birthplace. Having lost two chunks of ice, this record berg is a little less huge than it once was – and now that it is in rougher waters, it may break up further.
Does loss lead to instability?
Thanks to the satellite era, we recently witnessed the birth of one of the biggest icebergs on record. While the breakup of Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf hit the headlines around the world, this dramatic event also presents scientists with a unique opportunity to learn more about ice-sheet stability.
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