Ross Ice Shelf

The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf in Antarctica.^[1] It is a huge floating sheet of ice that extends from the land out over the Ross Sea. It was named after James Clark Ross, a British explorer who discovered it in 1841.

The Ross Ice Shelf was first seen by Captain James Clark Ross in 1841 during his voyage to explore the southern seas for the British Royal Navy. Ross sailed two ships, the Erebus and the Terror, and reached the edge of the ice shelf. He named it the "Great Ice Barrier" because it stopped his ships from going further south.

At the time, Ross thought it was a huge wall of ice connected to land. He followed the ice edge for hundreds of kilometers, mapping its position. The area was later named the Ross Ice Shelf in his honor.

In the early 1900s, explorers began using the Ross Ice Shelf as a base for trips into the interior of Antarctica. This time is known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Some key expeditions include:

Discovery Expedition – Led by Robert Falcon Scott. The team built a hut on Ross Island and traveled on the ice shelf to explore the interior.

Nimrod Expedition – Led by Ernest Shackleton. This group was the first to travel far across the ice shelf toward the South Pole.

Terra Nova Expedition – Another expedition by Scott, which reached the South Pole in 1912. Sadly, Scott and his team died on the return journey.

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition – Led by Shackleton again, with plans to cross the continent. Although the main crossing failed, the team explored the area near the ice shelf.

During the International Geophysical Year (1957–1958), the Ross Ice Shelf became a major location for scientific research. Scientists from many countries studied the ice, weather, and geology. They used new tools like:

• Ice drilling
• Radar to measure ice thickness
• Seismographs to study the ground beneath the ice

McMurdo Station (USA) and Scott Base (New Zealand) were built near the shelf and are still active today.

Today, the Ross Ice Shelf is an important location for studying climate change, glacier movement, and sea level rise. Scientists have found that:

• The ice shelf is slowly changing due to warming ocean water underneath it.
• It acts like a plug, holding back ice from glaciers in East and West Antarctica.
• If the shelf breaks up or melts, it could cause glaciers to flow faster into the ocean.

In recent years, research teams have drilled deep holes through the ice to study the water below. In 2017, scientists found living organisms under the ice shelf, surprising many researchers.

The Ross Ice Shelf is about:

• 800 kilometers (500 miles) wide
• 500,000 square kilometers (193,000 square miles) in area

That makes it about the same size as France or the U.S. state of Texas.

The ice shelf is connected to the land ice of Antarctica. Ice from glaciers and the Antarctic ice sheet flows into the Ross Ice Shelf and moves slowly toward the sea. The edge of the ice shelf is called the ice front, and large pieces sometimes break off and float away as icebergs.

The Ross Ice Shelf is very thick — in some places, it is more than 700 meters (2,300 feet) thick. Most of it is underwater, with only about one-tenth of the ice showing above the surface.

The Ross Ice Shelf is important for:

• Climate studies – scientists study the ice to learn about climate change
• Glacier flow – it helps slow down the glaciers behind it
• Sea level – if the ice shelf melts, it could cause other ice to flow into the ocean and raise sea levels

Several countries have research stations near the Ross Ice Shelf, including:

• McMurdo Station (USA)
• Scott Base (New Zealand)

These are located on Ross Island, near the edge of the shelf.

1. ↑ Rignot, E.; Jacobs, S.; Mouginot, J.; Scheuchl, B. (19 July 2013). "Ice-Shelf Melting Around Antarctica". Science. 341 (6143): 266–270. Bibcode:2013Sci...341..266R. doi:10.1126/science.1235798. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 23765278. S2CID 206548095.