A massive iceberg of an unusual shape has been observed near the Ukrainian Antarctic station "Akademik Vernadsky" (Ukrainian Antarctic Station). The National Antarctic Scientific Center reported this discovery.
According to the National Antarctic Scientific Center, the iceberg is approximately 1285 meters long, comparable to the length of Kyiv's main street, Khreshchatyk. The National Antarctic Scientific Center announced this.
According to polar explorers, this is one of the largest icebergs that has ever appeared in this area. The deepest part of the iceberg is up to 80 meters, and the width is about 90 meters.
The 30th Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition leader, Alexander Poluden, said: "For six winters at Vernadsky, I have not seen icebergs of such a scale. It is well visible from the station's windows, although it drifts away for tens of kilometers."
Such icebergs are called tabular icebergs, with straight edges and a flat top, resembling a table. Such formations usually appear after breaking away from shelf glaciers. Their size can be impressive.
The largest iceberg in history was B-15: in 2000, its area exceeded 11 thousand square kilometers, almost the size of Iceland, but it subsequently disintegrated.
Currently, the largest is the A23a iceberg, with an area of about 3100 km² (almost four Kyivs). It broke off in 1986 from the Filchner ice shelf along with the Soviet seasonal station "Druzhnaya-1". After decades of almost imperceptible existence in the Weddell Sea, in 2020, A23a began to move and is now gradually disintegrating near the South Georgia Islands.
The new iceberg, which appeared near "Akademik Vernadsky", broke off from one of the shelf glaciers, in particular, George VI or Wilkins.
Ukrainian polar explorers are now carefully observing its movement and further fate.