World's largest iceberg breaks off Antarctica: European Space Agency
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E-mail Xinhua, May 21, 2021
An enormous iceberg, currently the largest in the world, measuring around 4,320 square km in size, has broken from an ice shelf in Antarctica, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Wednesday.
The iceberg, dubbed A-76, spotted in recent images captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission, is around 170 km in length and 25 km wide, and is slightly larger than the Spanish island of Majorca, said the ESA.
It has calved from the western side of the Ronne Ice Shelf, lying in the Weddell Sea, in Antarctica. It is larger than the A-23A iceberg (approximately 3,880 square km in size), which is also located in the Weddell Sea.
In comparison, the A-74 iceberg that broke off the Brunt Ice Shelf in February, was only 1,270 square km.
Temperatures have risen dramatically in Antarctica region over recent decades, causing melting of sea surface and breakups of ice shelves.
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