The world’s largest iceberg, A-23A, finally broke into pieces just days before its 40th birthday.
The iceberg, which weighs more than a trillion tonnes, formed on Antarctica’s Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986 and remained buried in the seabed for about 34 years before breaking free in 2020.
The A-23A was a huge megaberg, around 1,540 square miles, almost the size of Greater London. It moved about 2,000 miles before finally ending its ocean odyssey.
The iceberg’s slow journey captivated scientists around the world. In its final months, significant melting reduced its size to around 66 square miles before disintegration.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced the news of the end of the iceberg in a blog post on Monday, April 13, 2026.
The US space agency wrote: “The journey of Antarctic Iceberg A-23A ends in fragmentation in the South Atlantic Ocean, after a 40-year lifespan documented by satellites.”
Dr Jan Lieser of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology tracked the iceberg using remote sensing.
Speaking about its disintegration, Dr Jan said: “In recent weeks I noticed how Mother Nature seemed to keep a veil of clouds over the dying iceberg, as if trying to give it some privacy at this stage.”
The final images of the iceberg, taken on April 3, show its tiny fragments floating in the South Atlantic Ocean.
