World’s largest iceberg trapped spinning on the spot near Antarctica

The world’s largest iceberg, A23a, is trapped in the Antarctic Ocean on top of a huge rotating column of water, a phenomenon that’s called a Taylor Column.

A23a split from Antarctica in 1986 — taking a Soviet research station with it — but didn’t really start to drift until 2020, eventually being picked up by the powerful Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Now the iceberg, once estimated to be about the size of the Hawaiian island Oahu, is stuck in place turning 15 degrees anti-clockwise every day.

As long as it’s on the Taylor Column, it won’t drift to warmer waters further north, delaying its melting. As one polar scientist told the BBC: ”A23a is the iceberg that just refuses to die.”