The world's biggest iceberg is on the move
- Published
- comments
The A68 is one of the biggest icebergs that's ever been recorded
The world's biggest iceberg is about to enter the open ocean, scientists say.
It's called the A68, and it broke off the continent of Antarctica in 2017.
It's been travelling north across the region since then and it's now about to reach the Southern Ocean!
The A68 is one of the biggest icebergs ever recorded and it weighs one trillion tonnes - a double decker bus weighs around 12 tonnes. So this iceberg weighs the same as... well, an awful lot of buses.
An iceberg forms when a big mass of ice separates from a glacier, and that process is called calving.
Scientists say the A68 has lost very little size in the two and a half years since it broke away.
However, it is thought that once it reaches rough water in the ocean it will struggle to stay together.
When the A68 calved it hardly moved, but now it's racing northwards!
Prof Adrian Luckman from Swansea University said he's "astonished that the ocean waves haven't already made ice cubes out of A68".
He added: "If it survives for long as one piece when it moves beyond the edge of the sea-ice, I will be very surprised".
- Published16 July 2018
- Published12 February 2018
