--- title: "The World’s Biggest Iceberg Has Started Spinning" description: "The biggest iceberg on the planet has apparently been spinning in place for months — and that's very much not what it's supposed to do." date: "2024-08-09" modified: "2024-08-09" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/largest-iceberg-spinning" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "antarctic peninsula" - "icebergs" - "oceanography" - "the digest" --- # The World’s Biggest Iceberg Has Started Spinning ![The biggest iceberg on the planet has apparently been spinning in place for months — and that's very much not what it's supposed to do.]() *\Image: British Antarctic Survey\* ## Spin Class The biggest iceberg on the planet has apparently been spinning in place for months — and that's very much *not* what it's supposed to do. As the [*BBC* reports](), the ginormous iceberg, dubbed A23a, is supposed to be moving along Earth's most powerful current. Instead, it's trapped atop a huge rotating column of water that oceanographers refer to as a "[Taylor Column]()," named for the nobleman, physicist, and [eventual Manhattan Project consultant]() GI Taylor who discovered such vortexes in the 1920s. Measuring nearly 1,5000 square miles — or triple the size of New York City — A23a has been a source of fascination for scientists since it broke off from Antarctica's Filcher Ice Shelf back in 1986, only to get stuck to the ocean floor for decades. ## Float On In 2020, as the *BBC* notes, the iceberg "re-floated" and began to slowly drift again, and by last fall, [A23a had all but made its departure out of Arctic waters](). In April of this year, the big boy was barreling full speed ahead when it reached the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), which moves more water than all the rivers on the planet combined and should have launched A23a even further along the outer edges of the Arctic and its eventual demise. Instead, the iceberg got stuck north of the South Orkney Islands that sit on the edge of the Antarctic Peninsula and at the mouth of the Southern Ocean. In the intervening months, it's been spinning at about 15 degrees per day, and apparently, it won't melt and decay the way it's supposed to so long as it keeps up that spin. Part of what's going on here seems to be the peculiarity of A23a to begin with, as Mark Brandon of England's Open University suggested to the *BBC*. "Usually you think of icebergs as being transient things; they fragment and melt away. But not this one," the polar researcher said. "A23a is the iceberg that just refuses to die." **More on mysteries of the deep:** [*Underwater Drone Discovers Strange Shapes Under Antarctic Ice*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()