Iceberg B-15

Northern edge of Iceberg B-15A in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, 29 January 2001

Iceberg B-15 was the largest recorded iceberg by area.[Note 1] It measured around 295 by 37 kilometres (159 by 20 nautical miles), with a surface area of 11,000 square kilometres (3,200 square nautical miles), about the size of the island of Jamaica. Calved from the Ross Ice Shelf of Antarctica in March 2000, Iceberg B-15 broke up into smaller icebergs, the largest of which was named Iceberg B-15-A. In 2003, B-15A drifted away from Ross Island into the Ross Sea and headed north, eventually breaking up into several smaller icebergs in October 2005.[2] In 2018, a large piece of the original iceberg was steadily moving northward, located between the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island. As of August 2023, the U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) still lists one extant piece of B-15 that meets the minimum threshold for tracking (70 km2 or 20 sq nmi).[3] This iceberg, B-15AB, measures 20 km × 7 km (11 nmi × 4 nmi); it is currently grounded off the coast of Antarctica in the western sector of the Amery region.[4]

  1. ^ Goering, Laurie (24 March 2000). "Mammoth Iceberg Is Born In Antarctic". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  2. ^ Specktor, Brandon (8 June 2018). "Antarctica's Largest Iceberg Is About to Die ... Near the Equator". Space.com. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Antarctic Iceberg Data". US National Ice Center.
  4. ^ "Icebergs" (PDF). US National Ice Center. 6 August 2021.


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