The largest iceberg in the world has ceased to exist

Last year, A23a was considered the largest iceberg on the planet, but in September it lost this status. In January, its area was estimated at about 1,300 square kilometers, but has now shrunk to less than 50 square kilometers. Currently, the iceberg continues to drift in the open ocean and is rapidly disintegrating. According to Polina Soloshchuk, a specialist at the Ice Information Center of the AARI, over the past three months he has covered about 1,000 kilometers.

A23a formed in 1986 when it broke off from the Filchner Glacier ice shelf in Antarctica. Then its area was about 4170 square kilometers. For more than three decades, the iceberg remained aground in the central part of the Weddell Sea, after which it began to move along the coast of Antarctica. By November 2023, it reached open waters. The iceberg then headed north and by early 2025 approached the island of South Georgia. About 80 kilometers away, it ran aground again and remained there from January to May 2025. After this, A23a continued to drift, skirting the island on the eastern side.