Iceberg B-15 was the world's largest recorded ice floe. It broke away from the Ross Ice Shelf in March 2000, later breaking up into several pieces. The largest of these, B-15A, was 122 km (76 miles) long, 27 km (17 miles) wide and covers an area of 3,100 km² (1,200 mile², or approximately the size of Jamaica).

On 10 April 2005 B-15A impacted the Drygalski ice tongue, a projection of the fast-moving David Glacier that flows through Antarctica's mountainous Victoria Land costal region, breaking off an 8 km² (3 mi²) section of the ice tongue.

B-15A is currently preventing ocean currents and winds from assisting in the summer break-up of the sea ice in McMurdo Sound, and is an obstacle to the annual resupply ships to three research stations. The floe is likely to cause a catastrophic decline in the population of Adelie Penguins, as it is adding considerable distances which parent penguins must travel back from the sea to their chicks.

References

• ESA satellite monitoring, updated frequently

External links

• Pile-up as berg hits Antarctica, BBC News Online, 19 April 2005
• World's Largest Floating Object Free Again, Livescience.com, 18 March 2005.
• Huge Iceberg heading for collision, TV New Zealand, 13 January 2005.
• Get Ready for the Largest Demolition Derby on the Planet, NASA, 6 January 2005.
• The Iceberg Cometh, The Guardian, 15 December 2004.
• NASA Earth Observatory images, November - December 2004
• Outta the Way, It's B15a! Light-hearted, layman's look at the world's largest iceberg by Roderick Eime.