A23a in "iceberg alley"

A23a: Tracking the world’s biggest iceberg in Antarctica - BBC News

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Update: A23a: Colossal iceberg stuck spinning in ocean trap - BBC News

I wonder if the whirlpool in Corryvreckan is a Taylor column. . . it seems to be caused by a rock formation that rises from 70 m to 28 m below the surface.

I’m no expert but a bit of reading suggests that a Taylor column relates to the flow of fluid around a movable object, e.g. the iceberg.

Corryvreckan doesn’t have an object, other than occasional boats in the whirlpool, so it’s missing a key part of the Taylor column environment.

Article says:

On the move again: World’s largest iceberg A23a breaks free - British Antarctic Survey

A23a: Giant iceberg on collision course with island - penguins and seals in danger - BBC News

A23a: World’s biggest iceberg runs aground off remote island - BBC News

Interesting that it’s run aground 50 miles from the island. If it did that here we wouldn’t be able to see it from land.

I haven’t done the maths, but you probably would: it’s quite high :grinning:

The Isle of Man is about 100km away from Blackpool and when the atmospheric conditions are right we can sometimes see the top of Snaefell which is 621m ASL. A23a is 400m thick but that includes the stuff under the water, so there’s maybe 150m or so above the waterline (isn’t most of an iceberg below the water?) So I suspect we wouldn’t see A23a at 80km if we can’t see Snaefell at 621m from 100km.

Seems to have grounded at about 300 m deep, so there is probably only 100 m above the waterline. . . OK, you might not see it but you might get some ice blink :wink:

Yes, more of an iceberg is below the surface but it varies: most big tabular bergs are compressed snow containing up to 10% air. The old adage about 9/10 below only holds for pure ice.

There was chap on the radio yesterday talking about how he was on the RRS Sir David Attenborough and they had to steam around A23a because it was in their path - it took them a day to get round it! He described the “cliffs” as being 40m high.

I’m guessing they had to keep well clear of it to avoid ice hidden under the water so that would make for a longer journey.

I saw the RSS Sir David Attenborough docked near Greenwich a couple of years ago. It looked huge, probably exaggerated by the paint colour!

. . . in case big chunks fell off it :wink: