According to scientists, in three months, the iceberg's area has shrunk by about 1,000 square kilometers, which is 36% of its size at the beginning of the Antarctic winter. Three large fragments, each ranging in size from 60 to 300 square kilometers, broke off from the main mass at the same time. While at the beginning of June the area of A23a was comparable to the territory of Moscow (2,730 square kilometers), it has now shrunk to the size of St. Petersburg (1,750 square kilometers).
The drifting iceberg is currently located approximately 70 kilometers north of the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. Its journey began in September 1986, when it broke off from the Filchner Ice Shelf. After that, it spent more than 30 years aground in the Weddell Sea.
The iceberg resumed active movement in mid-November 2023, when it was carried out into open water. In the spring of 2024, it began drifting along the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula towards the Scotia Sea. Scientists continue to closely monitor the iceberg's trajectory and the process of its further destruction.
Earlier, the most ancient wicks were found in Israel.