An Iceberg the Size of South Georgia Island is on a Collision Course with… South Georgia Island

An iceberg the size of South Georgia Island is on a collision course with... South Georgia Island. Image Credit: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2017–20), processed by ESA; Antarctic Iceberg Tracking Database

Back in July 2017, satellites watched as an enormous iceberg broke free from Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula. The trillion-ton behemoth has been drifting for over three years now. While it stayed close to its parent ice shelf for the first couple of years, it’s now heading directly for a collision with South Georgia Island.

It could be a slow-motion collision, but a collision nonetheless. If it does collide with the island and its shallow sea-floor, it won’t be the first iceberg to do so. And if the first one was any indication, wildlife could suffer.

Continue reading “An Iceberg the Size of South Georgia Island is on a Collision Course with… South Georgia Island”