BBC News | SCI/TECH | World's biggest iceberg on the loose

An image, taken from an altitude of 700km (435 miles) by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NOAA-12 polar-orbiting satellite, has alerted scientists and mariners to the iceberg's birth.

It could be the largest ever seen at 295km (183 miles) long and 37km (23 miles) wide, with a surface area of 11,000 sq km (4,250 square miles) - similar in size to The Gambia, Qatar or The Bahamas.

Watching closely

Matthew Lazzara, a scientist at University of Wisconsin-Madison's Antarctic Meteorological Research Center, said: "This is a very big iceberg, close to a record if not a new record. It's not often that you see them of this magnitude."

Scientists will be keeping a close watch on the iceberg because, being big, it may have a long lifetime even if it drifts northwards to warmer waters.

A more likely fate is, however, that it will remain trapped in the currents around Antarctica and stay relatively close to the coast.

Although conditions over the iceberg are fairly cloud-free, scientists have little information about it at present. There is a possibility of a USAF aircraft flying out to the berg to gather more information.

British researchers say the process is entirely natural and is not due to global warming.


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