Larsen Ice Shelf

Larsen Ice Shelf

Ice shelf in the northwestern Weddell Sea, adjoining the eastern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. It is named for Capt. Carl A. Larsen, who explored the ice front by boat in 1893. The shelf originally covered an area of 33,000 sq mi (86,000 sq km), excluding the numerous small islands within it, but, as air temperatures over the Antarctic Peninsula warmed slightly in the second half of the 20th century, the shelf shrank dramatically. By the early 21st century, it covered only 40 percent of its former area.

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Larsen Ice Shelf 

one of the largest ice shelves in Antarctica. The Larsen Ice Shelf forms the eastern ice bank of the Antarctic Peninsula for a distance of more than 800 km (between 64.5° and 72.5° S lat.). Its greatest width is about 200 km; its area is about 86,000 sq km. On the east it is blockaded year-round by the drifting ice of the Weddell Sea. The Argentine Teniente Matienzo scientific station has been in operation in the northern part of the Larsen Ice Shelf since 1961. The shelf was named in honor of its discoverer (1893), C. Larsen.