World’s oldest iceberg is no more: A23a melts into puddle of water after 40 years

3 days ago 5

Rommie Analytics

The iceberg – designated A-23A- photographed from an RAF aircraft flying over Antarctica in January 2025 (Picture: MOD/Cover Media)

One of the largest icebergs ever recorded has finally disintegrated after a four decades.

The mass – designated A-23A- calved from the Filchner Ice Shelf in Antarctica in 1986 and for many years it was the world’s biggest.

Its journey ultimately ended in the South Atlantic Ocean in early April 2026 – just months short of its 40th anniversary.

Satellite images captured it from birth in the Weddell Sea to disintegration. It had drifted more than 2,300km (1,429 miles) north into warmer waters near South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

There, it rapidly melted, fractured and shrank.