• Credit:

  Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Large chunks have been breaking off the A-38B iceberg, which appears to be lodged northeast of South Georgia Island in the South Atlantic Ocean. The iceberg was originally part of the massive A-38 iceberg, which broke from the Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica around October 13, 1998. At the time, the A-38 iceberg was more than 90 miles (144 km) long and 30 miles (48 km) wide, the largest iceberg that had been observed in a decade. By October 22, 1998, A-38B had started to break off the original iceberg. The pieces drifted about 1,500 nautical miles north to their present location around South Georgia Island in the South Atlantic.

The A-38B iceberg broke in half in April 2004. On August 20, a large slice had broken off the remaining section of the iceberg and was drifting north. On August 16, the faint outline of a crack can be seen where the iceberg later broke.

Images & Animations

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• NASA Official: Steven E. Platnick
• Database Updated: May 7, 2013