Rapid_Sea_Ice_Breakup_along_the_Ronne-Filchner_Ice_Shelf.gif
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Summary
Description Rapid Sea Ice Breakup along the Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf.gif |
English:
Within a 24-hour space, an area of
sea ice
larger than the state of
Rhode Island
broke away from the Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf and shattered into many smaller pieces. The long, narrow tongue of ice is a bridge of sea ice linking the A-23A
iceberg
to the Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf in West
Antarctica
. The ice bridge is fast ice, or sea ice that does not move because it is anchored to the shore. Compared to an
ice shelf
, the sea ice is a thin shell of ice over the ocean. The difference in thickness is visible in the images. The taller, thicker Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf casts a visible shadow on the ice bridge made of sea ice. This particular ice bridge breaks up and reforms regularly. Even though the images show a routine event, they provide a spectacular view of the sometimes dramatic arrival of
summer
in the Polar South.
|
Date | |
Source | NASA Earth Observatory |
Author | Jeff Schmaltz |
Images captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites.
Licensing
Public domain Public domain false false |
This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA . NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted ". (See Template:PD-USGov , NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy .) | ||
Warnings:
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Annotations
InfoField
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This image is annotated: View the annotations at Commons |
1496
2308
620
88
3200
2400
Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf
844
1588
380
340
3200
2400
Berkner Island
1208
1132
224
192
3200
2400
Sea ice bridge
1360
716
188
144
3200
2400
A-23A iceberg