- Contributed by听
- phantomdustbunny-scourge of the seven seas-keeper of Russian Space Horses and Mechanical Pencils
- Background to story:听
- Civilian
- Article ID:听
- A4353077
- Contributed on:听
- 04 July 2005
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LARSON B
In march 2002, the Northern section of the Larson B ice shelf broke off from the Antartic continent. An area of ice roughly the size of Rhode Island weighing 720 billion tons (enough to fill 12 trillion 5 lb bags of ice) separated from the continent and drifted to sea. The shelf had likely been in place since the last glaciation period 12,000 years ago and in a matter of months (Jan-March) has lost 40 percent of its mass.
Scientists have pointed out that since ice shelves are already floating in the water, the melting will not contribute to any rising sea levels. Ice shelves do, however, hold ice sheets on the continent and in time, sheets will slowly make their ways to the sea, raising sea levels over time. This is the largest single event in a series of retreats by ice shelves in the peninsula over the last 30 years.
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