What happened to the Larsen B ice shelf in 2002 that surprised scientists?
In March 2002, scientists witnessed the largest ice shelf breakup in recent history. Within 35 days, more than 3,250 square kilometers (1,255 square miles) of the Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica shattered into small icebergs.
What happened to the Larsen ice Sheet in 2002?
The collapse of the Larsen B Ice Shelf was captured in this series of images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite between January 31 and April 13, 2002. By March 7, the shelf had disintegrated into a blue-tinged mixture (mélange) of slush and ice bergs.
Where is the Larsen ice Sheet?
Weddell Sea
Larsen Ice Shelf, ice shelf in the northwestern Weddell Sea, adjoining the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula and named for Norwegian whaler Captain Carl A. Larsen, who sailed along the ice front in 1893.
How old is the Larsen Ice Shelf?
Larsen B was stable for at least 10,000 years, essentially the entire Holocene period since the last glacial period.
How old is the Larsen ice shelf?
Which two ice shelves are the largest in Antarctica?
Ice shelves are common around Antarctica, and the largest ones are the Ronne-Filchner, Ross and McMurdo Ice Shelves. Ice shelves surround 75% of Antarctica’s coastline, and cover an area of over 1.561 million square kilometres (a similar size to the Greenland Ice Sheet).
How did the Larsen B Ice Shelf change?
The ice of the shelf is renewed on a much shorter time-scale and the maximal ice age on the current shelf dates from only two hundred years ago. The speed of Crane Glacier increased threefold after the collapse of the Larsen B, likely due to the removal of a buttressing effect of the ice shelf.
How big is the Larsen Ice Shelf in sq mi?
The ice shelf originally covered an area of 85,000 square kilometres (33,000 sq mi), but following the disintegration in the north and the break away of iceberg A-17, it now covers an area of 67,000 square kilometres (26,000 sq mi).
When did the Wilkins Ice Shelf disintegrate?
Farther down the peninsula to the southwest, the Wilkins Ice Shelf disintegrated in a series of break up events that began in February 2008 (late summer) and continued throughout Southern Hemisphere winter. The last remnant of the northern part of the Wilkins Ice Shelf collapsed in early April 2009.
What happens to the ice in Larsen Bay?
The ice debris field did not become a permanent fixture in Larsen Bay. As seasonal sea ice melted the following summer, the mélange began to drift away with the currents, and in many summers since the collapse, the bay has been completely ice free.