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El mayor iceberg del mundo en una trampa oceánica infographic
El gráfico muestra la ruta del icebert A23a y cómo quedó atrapado en la Columna de Taylor.
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CIENCIA

El mayor iceberg del mundo gira en una trampa oceánica

By Jordi Bou

August 6, 2024 - El iceberg más grande del mundo, conocido como A23a, está capturado
en un vórtice rotatorio oceánico al norte de la Antártida que podría evitar durante años que se derritiera.

A23a broke away from the Antarctic coast in 1986. Almost immediately, it grounded on the seabed and was stuck for more than three decades. In 2020, it refloated.

In early April this year, A23a stepped into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, but instead of heading towards warmer waters, it became trapped in a type of vortex known as a Taylor Column, a massive rotating cylinder of water.

A Taylor Column forms when a current that meets an obstruction on the sea floor separates into two distinct flows, generating a full-depth mass of rotating water between them.

In this instance, the obstruction is a 100km-wide bump on the ocean bottom known as Pirie Bank. The vortex sits on top of the bank, and for now A23a is its prisoner, BBC reports.

A23a, which has an area of 3,600 sq km – twice the size of Greater London – could be stuck for years, scientists say.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 06/08/2024; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: IBCSO
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