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Giant Iceberg A-23a Shows Blue Hue, Signaling Potential Breakup
One of the world’s largest icebergs, the well-known A-23a, recently displayed a striking blue colour, possibly indicating the start of it’s disintegration after drifting in the ocean for 40 years.
On December 26, 2023, a NASA satellite captured images of A-23a revealing a vivid blue hue across its surface. “The blue color corresponds to areas where the water has warmed and pooled within linear features – the cracks in the ice,” explained Walter Meier, a principal research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, in an interview with Le Devoir.
Meier clarified that the alternating blue and white patterns relate to striations formed while the ice was still part of the ice shelf.
