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Ice Shelves
Ice shelf
The
huge ice sheets meet the shore in the form of massive ice shelves and
impregnable grounded ice cliffs. On the front of these ice shelves large
icebergs calves, and start their voyage north.
The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest of all and it is twice the size of New
Zealand, this is 30% of all Antarctic shelf ice. They name comes from the
explorer James Clark Ross who first landed in 1841. He returned without
finding an opening to the south, but for later explorer, the Ross Sea was
the easiest access to the South Pole. The Ross Ice Shelf is up to 900m
thick at its grounding line, and slopes to 200m at the ice front. The ice
is constantly replenished by five ice streams and numerous glaciers.
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Glaciers |
Icebergs |
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