![A true color image of South Georgia Island surrounded by clouds and three icebergs](/s3/styles/webp/s3/migrated/iodiceberg.jpg.webp?itok=kDom3dlx)
On Jan. 11, 2021, the NOAA-20 satellite viewed icebergs A-68A, A-68D, and A-68E move around South Georgia Island, in the southern Atlantic near Antarctica. Currently, A-68A is the world’s largest free-floating iceberg, and if it—or its associated icebergs—run aground on the island, they could disrupt the habitats of penguins and seals, along with other local fauna.
![An animated GIF showing the movement of Iceberg A-68A moving toward South Georgia Island](/s3/migrated/giflarsena68.gif)
Timelapse from the JPSS satellite, the NOAA/NASA Suomi-NPP, from Aug. 31-Dec. 8.
The authorities have been monitoring A-68Aââ¬â¢s movement since its original calving from the Larsen-C Ice Shelf in Antarctica on July 12, 2017. According to JPSS , A-68E split from A-68A on Dec. 23 and has since moved north and east around the tip of the island. A-68A, which releases 27,000 cubic feet of freshwater per second, has dolines , or ice sinkholes, up to 60 feet deep that align along flow lines of weakness and fractures.
The U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) , the authority designated with monitoring icebergs, has a naming convention that is derived from the Antarctic quadrant that they were originally found. So, the A-68A iceberg was found around Quadrant A, the Bellingshausen/Weddell Sea area, and was the 68th iceberg found by the authority.
This image was captured by the NOAA-20 satellite's VIIRS instrument , which scans the entire Earth twice per day at a 750-meter resolution. Multiple visible and infrared channels allow it to detect atmospheric aerosols, such as dust, smoke and haze associated with industrial pollution and fires. The polar-orbiting satellite circles the globe 14 times daily and captures a complete daytime view of our planet once every 24 hours.