Iceberg giant A-68, in the end, came in motion and began to drift away from Antarctica.
Last week, he then gradually moved away, again close to the Antarctic ice shelf, from which it broke away. But recent satellite imagery shows that ice block with an area of about 6000 square kilometers away from the continent in the Weddell sea.
Experts expect that an iceberg weighing about a trillion tons will drift North until you reach the Eastern ocean currents, known as the Antarctic circumpolar current. It is now one of the largest ever documented icebergs, but the satellite observation points to the beginning of fragmentation. Two fragments, which are assigned the designations A-A and 68b-68c yet drifting along with the main iceberg, but soon finally separated from him.
Scientists are not just watching the iceberg, but continue to monitor the ice shelf of Larsen, where he broke away. Now, when A-68 moves from its original place, it will expose a large area of seabed which was under ice cover for 120 000 years. This area has already received protected status from the Commission for the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources. This gives scientists priority access and keeps a ban on fishing in the Bay formed at least within two years.
The scientists also plan to make a scientific expedition to an iceberg during the Antarctic summer.
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