On Wednesday, the iceberg, dubbed "B10A," was situated at 58.58 degrees south and 55.34 degrees west, heading toward the northeast at between seven and nine nautical miles a day, according to satellite measurments.

If the iceberg's trajectory does not vary in the next month, it will approach the Falkland Islands, 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles) east of Argentina.

The iceberg has lost a lot of its bulk as it drifts into warmer waters. It measured 66 kilometers (40 miles) long and 18 kilometers (11 miles) wide, down significantly from 108 by 45 kilometers in 1995.

The lifespan and trajectory of iceberg of this size is difficult to predict, the Institute said. Other large icebergs have taken years to melt and have travelled north as far as Uruguay and the southern reaches of Brazil.

Earlier this month Chile's navy was put on alert to monitor the immense iceberg as began floating further into the Drake Sea where it could pose a danger to shipping in the area, a naval commander said Thursday.

Commander Jorge Raby emphasized "the importance of keeping an eye on" the giant iceberg as it bobs towards shipping lanes in the South Atlantic at a rate of seven knots a day.

Navigation around Cape Horn was put on alert a month ago after satellite images showed the iceberg breaking off from a glacier in the Antarctic in 1992, splitting three years later into two parts.

Raby said the navy had been sending reconnaissance flights from the southern tip of the country regularly over the iceberg, which he described as "awesome seen from the air."

As of October, "The iceberg is 600 nautical miles (1,100 kilometers) southeast of Punta Arenas midway in the Drake Sea, and some 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) northwest of the Antarctic Peninsula," said Raby.

Raby said a large number of smaller icebergs, breaking away as B10-A heads towards relatively warmer seas, could be seen nearby.

A cautionary zone was established within a 267 kilometers (165 miles) radius of B-10A's central point last August.

B-10A originated from a parent B-10 iceberg, which was once part of the Thwaites Glacier but "calved" from the larger mass a decade ago.

The National Ice Center began tracking B-10 in January 1992, when it calved again -- the larger piece becoming B-10A.

The "A" in the name derives from the Antarctic quadrant where it was originally sighted, while the "10" means it was the 10th iceberg found by the center in that area.

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