Iceberg A68 Is Melting Down Dumping Havoc Of Freshwater Into The Ocean
From late 2020 this iceberg was approaching South Georgia. And now the humongous iceberg is melting down and dumping over 1.5 billion tons of fresh water every single day. It is 150 times the water all UK citizens use in a single day.
A68 was, for a short period, the largest iceberg of the world. It covered nearly 6,000 square kilometers and weighed over one trillion tons. It broke free from Antarctica in 2017 but in early 2021 it disappeared.
The researchers are trying to figure out the impact that A68 had on the environment. A team led by the Leeds University has been tracking through satellite images and data, to calculate the behemoth’s changing dimensions as it floated north from the white continent Antarctica, moving through the Southern sea up to the South Atlantic.
The melt rates were varying through these three and half years of its existence. One of the highest melting periods was of course towards the end, as the iceberg approached towards the warmer climates of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia.
For a while, there was fear that the giant iceberg could come in between the ground and cause barriers in the foraging routes of penguins, Seals, and whales.
But before causing that A68 lost a sufficient amount of dept. ‘It does seem that it briefly touched the continental shelf. That’s when the berg took a turn and we saw a small piece break off. But it wasn’t enough to ground A68,’ Leed’s Dr. Anne Braakmann-Folgmann told the media.
They further added, ‘And I think you can see why in the thickness estimates,” added co-author Prof Andrew Shepherd. “By that stage, the berg’s keel was 141m, on average, and the bathymetry (depth) charts in the area showed 150m. It was a close call in the end.’
By April 2021, A68 had broken into countless small fragments that cannot be tracked. But the impact it made on the ecosystem will cause massive disruption. Giant tabular or flat-topped bergs are now recognized to cause more impact there ever they move along.
The freshwater input that A68 had may affect or alter local currents. And all the iron and minerals with all the organic matters that were gathered along the way will be dropped in the ocean. This will seed more biological production.
The British Antarctic Survey managed to place some robotic gliders in the range which will monitor the present condition before it melts away completely.
The data retrieved from several instruments, though it hasn’t been completely analyzed yet, revealed some interesting factors, said the biological oceanographer Prof Geraint Tarling.
‘We think there’s a really strong signal in the changing flora of the phytoplankton species around A68, and also in the actual deposition of material to the deeper parts of the ocean. The particle sensor on the glider was picking up some very strong signals of deposition coming from the berg,’ he shared this with the media.
They have published journals about the changes of A68.
I am Darryl Broadhurst and i give investors an insight into the most recent news hitting the “Technology” sector in Wall Street. I have been an independent financial adviser for over 11 years in the city and in recent years turned my experience in finance and passion for journalism into a full time role. I perform analysis of Companies and publicizes valuable information for shareholder community.
