A23a, one of the largest icebergs ever recorded, has disappeared after a decades-long journey across Antarctic waters, marking the end of an extraordinary chapter in polar science. The giant iceberg, which broke away from Antarctica in the 1980s and drifted for nearly four decades, finally became too small to track in March 2026, according to the United States National Ice Center. Although smaller fragments may still exist, scientists consider the iceberg’s remarkable voyage effectively over.

The story of A23a began in the mid-1970s when the Soviet Union established the seasonal Druzhnaya 1 research station near the Filchner Ice Shelf in Antarctica. When Soviet researchers returned in October 1986, they discovered that the station had disappeared from its original location. Initial reports suggested that the base may have been carried away on a smaller piece of floating ice, but later investigations revealed that it had drifted away on a massive iceberg created after a large section of the ice shelf broke apart.

The ice shelf collapse produced three major icebergs known as A22, A23, and A24, with the Druzhnaya 1 station carried away on A23. In January 1987, a Soviet recovery team landed on the iceberg and spent two weeks retrieving equipment buried beneath the snow. That mission is believed to have been the last time humans stepped onto A23. In 1991, the original iceberg split into several pieces, with the largest section becoming known as A23a.

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For many years, A23a remained trapped in the Weddell Sea, held in place by sea ice and resting against the ocean floor. Measuring around 2,000 square miles at its largest, roughly comparable in size to the island of Bali, the iceberg stayed largely stationary for decades. Its movement began in 2020, when scientists observed that A23a had started drifting again. It later travelled thousands of kilometres through ocean currents, eventually becoming one of the most closely observed icebergs in modern history.

As A23a entered the Southern Ocean in late 2023, researchers around the world monitored its movement and studied its impact on the surrounding marine environment. Scientists collected water samples and examined how melting ice affected ocean conditions, while noting that the iceberg’s movement was part of a natural process rather than being directly caused by climate change. In 2024, the iceberg became temporarily trapped in a rotating ocean current known as a Taylor column before breaking free and continuing toward warmer waters.

During its final years, A23a gradually lost mass as melting and fragmentation accelerated. In early 2025, remains of the Soviet Druzhnaya 1 station, including old barrels and storage equipment, emerged from the melting ice after travelling thousands of miles over more than 38 years. By June 2025, A23a had shrunk below 1,200 square miles and lost its status as the world’s largest iceberg. Its disappearance in 2026 brought an end to one of the longest and most scientifically valuable iceberg journeys ever documented.

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