Ross Ice Shelf (redirected from Ross Shelf Ice)

Ross Ice Shelf

World's largest body of floating ice. It lies at the head of the Ross Sea, which forms an enormous indentation in Antarctica. Its area is estimated to be about the size of France. The great white barrier wall of the shelf's front, first seen in 1841 by British explorer Capt. James C. Ross, rises in places to 200 ft (60 m). The ice shelf has been an important gateway for explorations of the Antarctic interior, including expeditions (1911–12) to the South Pole by Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott and Richard E. Byrd's expeditions (1928–41). It is the site of several permanent research stations.

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Ross Ice Shelf 

the largest ice shelf in Antarctica, located between Marie Byrd Land in the west and Victoria Land in the east. Area, 527,000 sq km. The distance from south to north is approximately 850 km; from east to west it is approximately 1,000 km. Elevation, approximately 60 m. The northern edge of the shelf forms a steep wall, rising approximately 50 m above the Ross Sea. The thickness of the ice is 150–200 m at the outer edge and up to 700 m at the southern extension. The average speed of the eastern half of the shelf is 800 m per year, and of the western half 1,500 m per year. The ice shelf was discovered in 1841 by a British expedition led by J. C. Ross and was originally called the Ross Barrier. From 1929 to 1959, the Little America base on the ice shelf housed various U. S. antarctic expeditions.