A 1 trillion-ton chunk of Antarctica is breaking away from the South Pole and may end up in a graveyard.

The largest iceberg in the world has emerged from the whirlpool it had been trapped in for the past few months, and it is now on the move again, reports LiveScience.

This is the iceberg's second escape in recent years; in 2023, it broke free from the ocean floor where it had been stuck for 37 years. Scientists are now closely monitoring the slow movement of the ice sheet.

The surface area of A23a, often referred to as the "mega-iceberg," is approximately three times larger than that of New York City, and it weighs just under 1 trillion tons. It first calved from the Filchner Ice Shelf in Antarctica in 1986, but became lodged on the seabed several kilometers from shore, significantly slowing its melting rate.

At the end of last year, A23a finally detached from the seabed and began its escape from Antarctica. However, the fugitive did not get far; after a few months, the ice island became stuck to the east of the South Orkney Islands in a massive rotating body of water created by ocean currents. At its maximum rotation speed, the iceberg was turning approximately 15 degrees counterclockwise each day.

As of December 13, the "mega-iceberg" has broken free from the vortex and resumed its journey away from the South Pole, according to a statement from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).

"It is very exciting to see A23a moving again after periods of stagnation. We are curious to see if it will follow the same route as other large icebergs that have calved from Antarctica. More importantly, we want to understand what impact this will have on the local ecosystem," says BAS oceanographer Andrew Meyers.

Most massive icebergs that have calved from Antarctica drift north through a section of the Southern Ocean known as the Drake Passage. This area is also called the "iceberg graveyard" as it directs icebergs north into warmer waters where they eventually break apart.

This was the fate of iceberg A-76A last year and its predecessor A68a, which also passed through this region and was split in half by ocean currents in 2020.

Researchers are particularly focused on A23a to learn more about how its eventual break-up may impact the surrounding ocean ecosystem.

"We know that these giant icebergs can supply nutrients to the waters they pass through, creating thriving ecosystems in less productive areas," said Laura Taylor, a PhD student in the BAS Biogeochemistry Department.

Scientists have collected water samples along the presumed path of the iceberg and will continue to sample in its wake. Comparing these samples to one another should help shed light on this mystery.

As a reminder, researchers have finally managed to calculate the true dimensions of the largest iceberg in the world and are observing where it will head next.