World's largest free iceberg drifted for decades—now it's cracking

South Georgia, forty year old Antarctica iceberg breaking up and drifting north

Almost four decades after breaking from Antarctica’s Filchner Ice Shelf, a still massive iceberg is showing its age. The berg, named A-23A, is shedding large chunks of ice as it drifts in the southern South Atlantic Ocean, about 2,400 kilometers north of its birthplace.

World's largest free iceberg drifted for decades—now it's cracking

The iceberg has been closely monitored due to concerns that it may collide with South Georgia, "potentially threatening a delicate ecosystem," the NOAA warned.