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20th May 2021

World’s largest iceberg forms in Antarctica after separating from ice shelf

Stephen Porzio

The iceberg is larger than the island of Majorca and four times the size of New York City.

A massive iceberg has separated from Antarctica’s Ronne Ice Shelf and is now lying in the Weddell Sea, according to the European Space Agency.

The iceberg, titled A-76, measures at around 4,320 sq km in size, currently making it the largest iceberg on Earth.

A-76 was spotted by the British Antarctic Survey and later confirmed in recent images captured by satellites with the iceberg measuring around 170km in length and 25km wide.

Image via The European Space Agency

For context, the iceberg is slightly larger than than the Spanish island of Majorca and is nearly four times the size of New York City.

The previous largest iceberg in the world is the A-23A iceberg, also located in the Weddell Sea, which is around 3,880 sq km in size.

Meanwhile, the A-74 iceberg that broke off the Brunt Ice Shelf in February of this year was a mere 1,270 sq km in comparison

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