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33-704: Amundsen Coast is that portion of the coast to the south of the Ross Ice Shelf lying between Morris Peak , on the east side of Liv Glacier , and the west side of the Scott Glacier . Named by New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1961 for Captain Roald Amundsen , the Norwegian explorer who led his own expedition in 1910–12 to the Antarctic . Setting up a base at Framheim at

66-493: A first exploration of the area by the Discovery Expedition in 1901–1904, Robert Falcon Scott made a significant study of the shelf and its surroundings from his expedition's base on Ross Island . By measurement of calved ice bergs and their buoyancy, he estimated the ice sheet to be on average 274 meters thick; the undisturbed morphology of the ice sheet and its inverted temperature profile led him to conclude it

99-538: Is Mount Bird , with Shell Glacier and Endeavour Piedmont Glacier on its slopes. The Erebus hotspot is thought to be responsible for the island's volcanic activity. The base of the Hut Point Peninsula is home to McMurdo Station and Scott Base . Scott's Hut is further north on the west coast, at Cape Evans . North of this at Cape Royds is Shackleton's Hut . Finally, the Cape Bird Hut

132-415: Is just south of Cape Bird . Capes and peninsulas include, clockwise from the south, the Hut Point Peninsula , Cape Evans , Cape Royds , Cape Bird , Cape Tennyson , Cape Crozier and Cape MacKay . Large bays include Erebus Bay , Wohlschlag Bay , Lewis Bay and Windless Bight . Major glaciers entering the sea or ice cap around the island include, clockwise from the south, Erebus Glacier and

165-432: Is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (as of 2013 , an area of roughly 500,809 square kilometres (193,363 sq mi) and about 800 kilometres (500 mi) across: about the size of France). It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than 600 kilometres (370 mi) long, and between 15 and 50 metres (50 and 160 ft) high above the water surface. Ninety percent of

198-495: The 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami . Ross Island This area was discovered by Sir James Clark Ross in 1841, but he thought it formed part of the mainland of Victoria Land. It was determined to be an island and named Ross Island by the British National Antarctic Expedition (1901-04), led by Robert Falcon Scott , in honor of Sir James Clark Ross. Ross Island was

231-601: The cliffs of Dover ". Ross, who in 1831 had located the North Magnetic Pole , spent the next two years vainly searching for a sea passage to the South Pole; later, his name was given to the ice shelf and the sea surrounding it. Two volcanoes in the region were named by Ross for his vessels. For later Antarctic explorers seeking to reach the South Pole, the Ross Ice Shelf became a starting area. In

264-484: The Ross Ice Shelf Project was launched with a plan of drilling into the shelf to sample the biomass in the area and make other determinations about the shelf and its relationship to the sea floor. This is believed to be the first oceanographic ice shelf borehole. The project included surface glaciological observations as well as drilling, and the glaciological portion started during the planning phase of

297-501: The analyses have resulted in some interesting theories being posited and publicized. One such opinion, given in 2006 based on a geological survey, suggested that the ice shelf had collapsed previously, perhaps suddenly, which could well happen again. A science team from New Zealand installed a camp in the centre of the shelf in late 2017. The expedition was led by glaciologist Christina Hulbe and brought together oceanographers, glaciologists, biologists and sedimentologists to examine

330-518: The base for many of the early expeditions to Antarctica . It is the southernmost island reachable by sea. Huts built by Scott's and Shackleton's expeditions are still standing on the island, preserved as historical sites. Today Ross Island is home to New Zealand 's Scott Base and to the largest Antarctic settlement, the United States Antarctic Program 's McMurdo Station . Greenpeace established World Park Base on

363-427: The drilling. The drilling portion of the project was to have begun during 1974, but the actual drilling was delayed until 1976. Finally, in 1977, the scientists were able to drill successfully through the ice, making a hole that could be sampled every few days for three weeks. The team was able to map the sea floor, study the tides, and assess the fish and various other forms of life in the waters. The team also examined

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396-616: The edge of the Ross Ice Shelf, he sledged southward across the shelf and discovered a route up the Axel Heiberg Glacier along this coast to reach the polar plateau . He was the first to reach the South Pole , December 14, 1911. 85°30′S 162°0′W  /  85.500°S 162.000°W  / -85.500; -162.000 This Ross Dependency location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ross Ice Shelf The Ross Ice Shelf

429-731: The first humans to cross the Ice Shelf during its failed attempt to reach the South Pole . Both Roald Amundsen and Scott crossed the shelf to reach the Pole in 1911. Amundsen wrote: "Along its outer edge the Barrier shows an even, flat surface; but here, inside the bay, the conditions were entirely different. Even from the deck of the Fram we were able to observe great disturbances of the surface in every direction; huge ridges with hollows between them extended on all sides. The greatest elevation lay to

462-691: The floating ice, however, is below the water surface. Most of the Ross Ice Shelf is in the Ross Dependency claimed by New Zealand. It floats in, and covers, a large southern portion of the Ross Sea and the entire Roosevelt Island located in the east of the Ross Sea. The ice shelf is named after Sir James Clark Ross , who discovered it on 28 January 1841. It was originally called "The Barrier", with various adjectives including " Great Ice Barrier ", as it prevented sailing further south. Ross mapped

495-565: The glaciers and others the valleys on the ice shelf. From 1967 to 1972 the Scott Polar Research Institute reported extensive observations using radio echo sounding . The technique allowed measurements to be taken from the air; allowing a criss cross track of 35,000 km to be covered; compared with a 3,000 km track from previous seismic sounding on the ground. More detailed surveys were executed between 1973 and 1978. A significant scientific endeavor called

528-511: The glaciers' surfaces. Once their ice shelves are removed, the glaciers increase in speed due to meltwater percolation and/or a reduction of braking forces, and they may begin to dump more ice into the ocean than they gather as snow in their catchments. Glacier ice speed increases are already observed in Peninsula areas where ice shelves disintegrated in prior years." The Ross Ice Shelf is one of many such shelves. It reaches into Antarctica from

561-557: The grounding line region of the Kamb Ice Stream . The hot water drill borehole at this site penetrated through over 500 m of snow and ice to an ocean cavity only 30 m deep at this location. As well as sampling the ocean and sediment, it was the first deployment beneath the Ross Ice Shelf of the Remotely operated underwater vehicle Icefin developed at Georgia Tech , a vehicle designed around parameters suitable for exploration of

594-442: The help of tackles? Or a great and dangerous fissure, which we should not be able to cross without going a long way round? We naturally expected something of the sort. This mighty and terrible monster would, of course, offer resistance in some form or other," he wrote. "The mystic Barrier! All accounts without exception, from the days of Ross to the present time, had spoken of this remarkable natural formation with apprehensive awe. It

627-541: The highest average elevation of any island. Major volcanic peaks include, from west to east, Mount Bird , Mount Erebus , Mount Terra Nova and Mount Terror . Mount Erebus is (3,794 metres (12,448 ft)) is the planet's southernmost active volcano. The dormant volcano Mount Terror (3,230 metres (10,600 ft)), is the second highest on the island. They were named by Captain James Ross after his ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror . The third highest elevation

660-627: The ice front eastward to 160° W. In 1947, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names applied the name "Ross Shelf Ice" to this feature and published it in the original U.S. Antarctic Gazetteer. In January 1953, the name was changed to "Ross Ice Shelf"; that name was published in 1956. On 5 January 1841, the British Admiralty's Ross expedition in the Erebus and the Terror , three- masted ships with specially strengthened wooden hulls ,

693-422: The ice, ocean and sediment in the central shelf region. One of the key findings was that the ice in the region was re-freezing. This re-freezing and growth of an ice shelf is not uncommon but the Ross Ice Shelf situation appeared to be very variable as there was no evidence of long-term freezing. A recent study attribute this variability in-part to tidal mixing. A second New Zealand expedition in 2019 traveled to

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726-545: The island and ran it for five years, from 1987 to 1992. Because of the persistent presence of the ice sheet , the island is sometimes taken to be part of the Antarctic mainland. Only a small portion of the island is free of ice and snow. Its area is 2,460 square kilometres (950 sq mi). Despite its relatively small size, Ross Island is the world's 6th highest island and the highest island in Antarctica. It has

759-518: The liquid cavities of places like Europa . The same New Zealand team returned to another site along the Kamb coast in December 2021, this time drilling through an under-ice river that proved to be essentially oceanic. The team were able to melt through the ice to discover the 250 m deep river had formed a relatively narrow channel beneath the ice. They also recorded evidence of the tsunami generated by

792-448: The north, and covers an area of about 520,000 km (200,000 sq mi), nearly the size of France. The ice mass is about 800 km (500 mi) wide and 970 km (600 mi) long. In some places, namely its southern areas, the ice shelf can be almost 750 m (2,450 ft) thick. The Ross Ice Shelf pushes out into the sea at between 1.5 and 3 m (5 and 10 ft) a day. Other glaciers gradually add bulk to it. At

825-411: The oceanographic and geological conditions as well as the temperature of the ice. They estimated that the base of the shelf was −2.16 °C (27.3 °F). They also made other calculations about the fluctuations of the temperatures. The results of these various projects were published in a series of reports in the 2 February 1979 issue of Science . During the 1980s, a network of weather stations

858-473: The same time, the freezing of seawater below the ice mass increases the thickness of the ice from 40 to 50 cm (16 to 20 in) . Sometimes, fissures and cracks may cause part of the shelf to break off; the largest known is about 31,000 km (12,000 sq mi), that is, slightly larger than Belgium. Iceberg B-15 , the world's largest recorded iceberg , was calved from the Ross Ice Shelf during March 2000. Scientists have long been intrigued by

891-414: The shelf and its composition. Many scientific teams researching the Antarctic have made camps on or adjacent to the Ross Ice Shelf. This includes McMurdo Station , built next to the Ross Ice Shelf on volcanic rock. One major effort was a series of studies conducted in 1957 and 1958, which were continued during the 1960–61 season. The efforts involved an international team of scientists. Some parties explored

924-582: The shelf is "only a few degrees too cool in summer presently to undergo the same kind of retreat process. The Ross Ice Shelf is the main outlet for several major glaciers draining the West Antarctic Ice Sheet , which contains the equivalent of 5 m of sea level rise in its above-sea-level ice." The report added that observations of "iceberg calving " on the Ross Ice Shelf are, in their opinion, unrelated to its stability. Scientific exploration continues to uncover interesting information and

957-562: The south in the form of a lofty, arched ridge, which we took to be about 500 feet [150 m] high on the horizon. But it might be assumed that this ridge continued to rise beyond the range of vision". The next day, the party made its first steps on the Barrier. "After half an hour's march we were already at the first important point—the connection between the sea-ice and the Barrier. This connection had always haunted our brains. What would it be like? A high, perpendicular face of ice, up which we should have to haul our things laboriously with

990-427: Was as though one could always read between the lines the same sentence: 'Hush, be quiet! the mystic Barrier!' "One, two, three, and a little jump, and the Barrier was surmounted!" Ice shelves are thick plates of ice, formed continuously by glaciers, that float atop an ocean. The shelves act as "brakes" for the glaciers. These shelves serve another important purpose—"they moderate the amount of melting that occurs on

1023-499: Was floating on water; and measurements in 1902–1903 showed it had advanced 555 meters northwards in 13.5 months. The findings were presented at a lecture entitled "Universitas Antarctica!" given 7 June 1911 and were published in the account of Scott's second expedition (the Terra Nova Expedition of 1910–1913). Ernest Shackleton 's southern party (Shackleton, Adams, Marshal, Wild) of the 1908 Nimrod expedition were

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1056-683: Was going through the pack ice of the Pacific near Antarctica in an attempt to determine the position of the South Magnetic Pole. Four days later, they found their way into open water and were hoping that they would have a clear passage to their destination. But on 11 January, the men were faced with an enormous mass of ice. Sir James Clark Ross , the expedition's commander, remarked: "It was an obstruction of such character as to leave no doubt upon my mind as to our future proceedings, for we might with equal chance of success try to sail through

1089-401: Was installed to record temperatures on the shelf and throughout the more remote parts of the continent. University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center has been studying ice shelves and, in 2002, announced that, based on several breakups of ice shelves, including Larsen B, has begun to reassess their stability. Their scientists stated that the temperature of the warmest portion of

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