“Largest iceberg in the world breaks off Antarctica – European Space Agency” – SKY news

“Largest iceberg in the world breaks off Antarctica – European Space Agency” – SKY news

“An enormous mass of ice the size of Majorca is adrift in the Weddell Sea after shearing off an Antarctic ice shelf.

The biggest iceberg in the world has broken loose from an ice shelf in Antarctica, the European Space Agency has confirmed.

The iceberg, dubbed “A-76”, is 109 miles (175km) long and 16 miles (25km) wide, making it larger than the Spanish island of Majorca and surpassing the now second-largest iceberg, which is 3,380sq km.

British Antarctic Survey first spotted the iceberg in the Weddell Sea after it had sheared from the Ronne Ice Shelf.

Details were confirmed by the US National Ice Center using imagery from Copernicus Sentinel-1, two polar-orbiting satellites that provide a year-round view of remote regions like Antarctica.

Icebergs periodically break free from ice shelves in a natural process known as “calving”.

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