A special type of iceberg that is fairly common in Antarctica and rarely seen the Arctic is the tabular iceberg. These icebergs break off from ice shelfs (as by now most likely has happened again in the Weddell Sea). These bergs are flat on top and have steep edges on the side, like a table. When they break off they can be very large, sometimes over a hundred kilometer in length. Then they drift around in the Southern Ocean, slowly melting and breaking up in smaller parts.This whole process takes many years and slowly but steadily they are all returned to the ocean.