Scientists said that for the first time in over 50 years, an ice shelf has collapsed on the eastern part of the continent.
The Conger ice shelf collapsed in March in a part of the world called Wilkes Land. The National Ice Center in the United States says it was first spotted by scientists with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
Ice shelves are floating tongues of ice at the end of glaciers that serve as outlets for the continent's massive ice sheets. meltwater and other factors can cause fissures in the floating ice to erode and grow to a point where the shelf will break.
According to the National Ice Center, the largest fragment of the Conger shelf after the collapse was named C-38, which was about 200 square miles in size.
The loss of a shelf can allow the glaciers behind it to move faster, which can lead to more rapid ice-sheet loss. Warming related to climate change is having a greater effect on ice-shelf loss in West Antarctica than it does in the east.
sea levels could rise by 10 feet over the course of hundreds of years if the ice shelves in West Antarctica collapse.
The two glaciers behind the Conger sheet are small, and even if they were to accelerate, would have minimal effect on sea level.
The Conger collapse is the first observed in East Antarctica since the era of satellite imagery began in 1979.
She said that the ice shelf had been retreating for several years. She said that it had appeared to become stable between the mainland and a small island.
She said that the collapse was not a complete surprise. The two agreed that the recent weather may have been a factor.
In March, an atmospheric river swept into East Antarctica from the ocean to the north. It resulted in record-setting warmth in some locations, with temperatures as much as 70 degrees higher than normal for this time of year.
The warmth could have led to more surface melting of the Conger ice shelf, which could cause it to collapse. The atmospheric river, combined with record-low sea ice around Antarctica this season, likely played a larger role in the wind conditions.
Sea ice protects the coast from the swells that come from the Southern Ocean. The floating shelf flexed more than it normally would because of the lack of ice.
He said that wind events and warm temperatures in the air and ocean don't help with ice-shelf.
East Antarctica has been thought to be the more stable region of the planet, with less warming and ice gains in some areas. The collapse of the Conger ice shelf doesn't change that view, according to Dr. Walker.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the glaciers behind Conger.
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