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The 3,700 square kilometer floating block en route to the island of South Georgia will have “devastating effects” on wildlife and marine life.
A scientific mission departs at the end of January for the subantarctic island of South Georgia, where a giant iceberg, designated A-68a, of 3,700 square kilometers, an area larger than the island itself (3,528 km2), is heading, fearing severe impacts. in one of the largest ecosystems in the world and threatens penguin and seal populations.
The mission, led by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) research institute and supported by the UK’s National Oceanography Center, aims to assess the impacts of the arrival of A-68a, the largest “chunk” of the iceberg. (A68) that split, in July 2017, from the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica.
Until a few days ago, the A-68a was the largest known iceberg, at more than 4,200 km2, but it loses dimension as it heads north. The largest is now the A-23a (4000 km2), “beached” in the Weddell Sea, in the Southern Ocean.
Effects over a decade
According to recent satellite images, the iceberg, which is located less than 75 kilometers from the British island, has rotated in a clockwise direction and one end will have touched shallower water (200 meters), highlighting a new block of giant ice. , 140 km2.
Scientists want to study the impact of freshwater from melting ice in an important region of the South Atlantic Ocean on wildlife. The waters of South Georgia are “one of the most biologically rich places on the planet, with more marine species described than in the Galapagos, and it is one of the largest marine protected areas in the world,” emphasizes BAS.
In addition to colonies of tens of thousands of penguins and six million seals, whose populations will be affected in the breeding season as the iceberg could damage food-gathering trips, scientists are concerned about life in the seabed. Marine. The negative effects could last a decade.
“The iceberg will cause devastation on the seabed, devastating communities of sponges, starfish, worms and sea urchins, reducing biodiversity”, emphasizes Professor Geraint Tarling, noting that these communities help to store large amounts of carbon, especially in sediments, which will be released by destruction.
The expert highlights that, however, there will be positive impacts. When traveling in the open sea, icebergs release large amounts of mineral dust, which fertilizes plankton with direct benefits for the species that feed on it and indirectly for the food chain.
Danger to navigation
The A-68a’s firing monitoring indicates that it is breaking down. Scientists fear that thousands of new smaller icebergs could clog shipping lanes.
Global warming
The separation of A68a from the “mother” ice shelf is considered natural. But climate models indicate that in a warmer Antarctica in the future these events are more frequent.
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