A-76 ICEBERG: UNFORTUNATE BREAKAGE OF THE LARGEST ICEBERG IN ANTARCTICA.

a76 iceberg, iceberg a76

“The world’s biggest iceberg A-76”.

What do you think when reading this title? Or what comes to your mind about this? Or some of you may wonder, what does this iceberg a76 mean? And I’m here to explain in detail all those things here. Yes, are you ready? Let’s dig deeper into the topic !!!!

THE WORLD’S LARGEST ICEBERG.

The largest iceberg has broken from the Western side of the Ronne ice shelf in Antarctica’s Weddell sea over the past few days in the month of May. It is considered to be the world’s largest iceberg. The iceberg was named by the scientist as ” A-76″.

KNOW ABOUT THE ICE DESERT: ANTARCTICA.

As all of you know, Antarctica is the Earth’s fifth-largest continent. It is the coldest place on the earth and it is covered almost completely with ice. ANTARCTICA IS COVERED BY ICE SO IT FREEZES IN WINTER AND MELTS over SUMMER. It is the largest single mass of ice on the earth. The earth’s freshwater is stored in Antarctic ice which covers around 61 per cent.

If it melts, the global sea level would rise by almost 60 metres. And here is the process of calving of A-76 happened. Average sea levels have risen about 9 inches, this is due to melting and a quarter of this came from Greenland and Antarctica. [ Calving is the event in which the ice breaks off from the glacier].

INFORMATION ON RONNE ICE SHELF.

The Ronne ice shelf is the mother and largest ice shelf that gave birth to A-76. The Ronne ice shelf is one of the largest floating sheets of ice compared to several floating sheets on the Antarctic Peninsula which is connected to the landmass as it extends to the surrounding seas.

1.HOW WAS A-76 NAMED?

Antarctica is divided into four quadrants as A, B, C, D. The icebergs are named after the quadrants of Antarctica followed by the number in the sequence and some of the sequential letters to identify the breakage of icebergs. Likewise, the name A-76 is formed by one of the quadrants “A” followed by the sequential number “76”.

SATELLITE THAT SPOTTED A-76.

The iceberg was spotted by using COPERNICUS SENTINEL MISSION that provided the images of A-76. It spotted the iceberg which was in the shape of a finger. The satellite belongs to the European Space Agency (ESA).

THE SIZE OF A-76.

A-76 is not that much larger than the previous iceberg (B-15) that was discovered in 2000 in which it had a surface area of 11000 square kilometres. But A-76 has a surface area of around 4320 square kilometres making it the biggest piece of ice currently afloat in the sea. A-76 is 170 km in length and 25 km in width.

THE CAUSE FOR THE BREAKAGE OF A-76.

You may think this happened due to man-made causes like global warming but scientists tell it is all about the natural cycle.

The breakage of an ice shelf is quite common. And these events like calving occur naturally. This is due to the unstableness of the ice shelf on the edge. So this breakage of iceberg a76 is just a part of the natural cycle. It is not about the reason for global warming or climate change.

As readers, What is the reason do you think? Comment below..

IMPACT ON ANIMALS ON ISLAND AND SEA LEVEL.

Now you may have a question. Does the breakage impact the rise of sea level?

Scientists say that A-76 does not impact the rising sea level as it melts. As the iceberg is already floating, it would displace the same amount or volume of water in the sea. Last time, when A-68A broke, scientists feared that it would collide with the island that is a major breeding area for sea lions and penguins, but luckily it ended up breaking into smaller pieces instead. And in the case of A-76, it is also expected to break up into pieces.

Some of the interesting facts about A-76( iceberg a76)

  • A-76 is three times the size of New Delhi, which is 1484 sq kilometres.
  • It is a quarter the size of Rhode Island, which is 3144 sq kilometres.
  • It is 70 times bigger than Manhattan, New York.

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MUBEENA HUSSAIN
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