A giant ice slab the size broke away from the frozen edge of Antarctica in the Weddell Sea, becoming the largest iceberg currently afloat in the world. It was announced on its website by the European Space Agency.
The iceberg, designated by scientists as A-76, was spotted in recent satellite images taken by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission. Its area covers 4320 sq. km, the length is 175 km, width is 25 km.
By comparison, Spain's popular tourist island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean is 3,640 sq km (1,405 sq mi). The US state of Rhode Island is even smaller: its area is only 2,678 square km.
In size, the A-76, which broke away from the Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica, is considered the largest existing iceberg on the planet, now surpassing the second A-23A, with a size of about 3380 square km. It also floats in the Weddell Sea.
The Ronne Ice Shelf, at the edge of the Antarctic Peninsula, is one of the largest huge floating ice sheets that is connected to the continent's landmass and extend into the surrounding seas.
The periodic separation of large chunks of glacial fields is part of the natural cycle. But some ice slabs on the Antarctic Peninsula have undergone rapid disintegration in recent years, which scientists believe may be due to climate change.
The Weddell Sea, the southernmost on Earth, is covered with floating ice floes and icebergs breaking away from ice shelves almost all year round. It is considered one of the oldest and at the same time one of the least studied seas of the World Ocean.
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