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\n The world\u2019s largest iceberg<\/a> is \u201crapidly breaking up\u201d into several large \u201cvery large chunks,\u201d scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS)<\/a> have said.\n <\/p>\n \n Previously weighing nearly a trillion metric tonnes (1.1 trillion tons) and spanning an area of 3,672 square kilometers (1,418 square miles) \u2014 slightly bigger than Rhode Island \u2014 the A23a iceberg has been closely tracked by scientists ever since it calved from the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf in Antarctica in 1986.\n <\/p>\n \n A23a has held the \u201clargest current iceberg\u201d title several times since the 1980s, occasionally being surpassed by larger but shorter-lived icebergs, including A68 in 2017 and A76 in 2021.\n <\/p>\n \n Andrew Meijers, an oceanographer at BAS, told CNN in an email Wednesday: \u201cThe iceberg is rapidly breaking up, and shedding very large chunks, themselves designated large icebergs by the US national ice centre that tracks these.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The \u201cmegaberg\u201d has now shrunk to about 1,700 square kilometers (656 square miles), according to Meijers, which equates to roughly the size of Greater London.\n <\/p>\n \n A23a remained grounded on the Antarctic\u2019s Weddell Sea floor for more than 30 years, probably until it shrank just enough to loosen its grip on the seafloor.\n <\/p>\n \n Then in 2020, it was carried away by ocean currents before it became stuck again in a Taylor column \u2014 the name given to a spinning vortex of water caused by ocean currents hitting an underwater mountain \u2014 until it was reported to be on the move again last December. In March this year it ran aground on a continental shelf before floating loose again in May.\n <\/p>\n \n Meijers explained the circumstances that led to the iceberg\u2019s breakup. \u201cIt has been following the strong current jet known as the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front (SACCF) anti-clockwise around South Georgia ever since it floated loose in May, after grounding on the continental shelf for a few months in March.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThis jet is likely to ultimately take away the berg and its bits off to the north east \u2014 still as part of iceberg alley.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n He said A23a is \u201cfollowing a similar fate\u201d to other megabergs, such as A68 in 2021 and A76 in 2023, which also disintegrated around South Georgia, a British Overseas Territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean, though it has stayed in one piece for longer than either of those.\n <\/p>\n \n The disintegration means the crown for world\u2019s largest iceberg is now held by D15a, which measures around 3,000 square kilometers (1,158 square miles) and, according to Meijers, is \u201cfairly static on the Antarctic coast near the Australian Davis base.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n A23a currently still holds the title of the world\u2019s second-largest iceberg, but Meijers said this is likely to \u201crapidly change\u201d as it continues to \u201cfragment in the coming weeks.\u201d Warmer water temperature and the onset of southern spring means it will probably break into \u201cbergs too small to track further,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n \n Iceberg calving is a natural process and there haven\u2019t been enough megabergs for scientists to know if they are increasing as the world warms, Meijers said. What is clear, however, is that ice shelves have lost trillions of tons of ice through increased iceberg formation and melting over the past few decades, much of which is due to warming ocean water and changes in ocean currents, he added.\n <\/p>\n![\"Warm](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2024-01-16t191800z-2115368154-rc22j5ael55w-rtrmadp-3-antarctica-iceberg-20250903085614124.JPG\")
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