ice shelf
noun
: shelf ice
In 2002, a Rhode Island-size section of an ice shelf crumbled into the sea.—
Joe McGowan
Joe McGowanExamples of ice shelf in a Sentence
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By Scott Laird September 25, 2024 The Case for Visiting Alaska in Wintertime
After falling for Alaska in the summer, David Amsden returns to ski its soft-powder snow, explore melting ice shelves, and learn what the locals have always known—that the 49th state is truly amazing in winter.
—Jessica Puckett, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Feb. 2026
Anchored to the ocean floor, the curtain would act as a physical barrier, limiting the flow of warm seawater that melts the ice shelf from below.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 4 Feb. 2026
When water gathers inside the meltwater ponds and fractures in an iceberg, its weight can pry the slab apart, causing a rapid breakup of events on ice shelves and icebergs, like A-23A. Seeing these features can help scientists test and refine models of how floating ice fails.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 12 Jan. 2026
When an iceberg the size of Chicago broke away from an Antarctic ice shelf on January 13, Schmidt Ocean Institute scientists raced over in their Falkor (too) research vessel to glimpse what life-forms had been dwelling below.
—Andrea Thompson, Scientific American, 25 Dec. 2025
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Jessica Puckett, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Feb. 2026
Anchored to the ocean floor, the curtain would act as a physical barrier, limiting the flow of warm seawater that melts the ice shelf from below.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 4 Feb. 2026
When water gathers inside the meltwater ponds and fractures in an iceberg, its weight can pry the slab apart, causing a rapid breakup of events on ice shelves and icebergs, like A-23A. Seeing these features can help scientists test and refine models of how floating ice fails.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 12 Jan. 2026
When an iceberg the size of Chicago broke away from an Antarctic ice shelf on January 13, Schmidt Ocean Institute scientists raced over in their Falkor (too) research vessel to glimpse what life-forms had been dwelling below.
—Andrea Thompson, Scientific American, 25 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ice shelf
Cite this Entry
“Ice shelf.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ice%20shelf. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
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