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The Expert: Unexpectedly the rock did not split
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The world’s largest iceberg is getting closer and closer to the island of South Georgia.
Now researchers are concerned about the consequences.
One collision could kill thousands of penguins, seals and other wildlife, writes the Daily Mail.
Three years ago, the iceberg, which is described as the largest in the world, broke off Antarctica. Since then, it has moved just over 1,600 km to where it is now, about 200 km from the island of South Georgia in the South Atlantic.
The new images on the iceberg worry several researchers, writes the Daily Mail.
Photo: BFSAI / CORPORAL PHILIP DYE
An aerial photo taken by an RAF A400M over parts of the iceberg.
“The next two or three weeks will be the key to deciding whether the mountain will hit South Georgia or not,” Andrew Fleming of the British Antarctic Survey told the newspaper.
He thought the iceberg had already split.
– The fact that it is still in one piece is quite unusual. It’s safe to say it’s the largest iceberg in the world right now and probably among the five largest in history, he says.
May get unusually close
The iceberg’s shape has been compared to a clenched fist with a pointing finger and is estimated to weigh a trillion tons, but as it is “only” 200 meters deep, it can come much closer to land than similar mountains, writes the Daily. Mail.
Photo: AP
Satellite image from above of how the giant iceberg makes its way to the island of South Georgia.
If the rock doesn’t make it to South Georgia, it will dissolve when it reaches warmer waters, but if it approaches and runs aground near the island, it could have dire consequences, the researchers believe.
One effect is that the iceberg’s much colder freshwater volume would mean that organisms at the bottom of the food chain, including microalgae and plankton, would have to struggle to thrive, the newspaper writes.
– This means that the base of the food chain may not be close to its productivity, which will affect other species such as krill that depend on plankton for their food. This, in turn, will affect penguin and seal colonies that thrive on abundant krill supplies, The British Antarctic Survey’s biology professor Geraint Tarling tells the Daily Mail.
For penguins and seals, there is also the risk of being hit if the mountain gets too close to the coast. It would then block the routes that penguin and seal colonies have to reach their feeding grounds, writes the Daily Mail.
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