ice shelf

noun

|Updated on: 12 Aug 2018

Definition of ice shelf

: shelf ice

In 2002, a Rhode Island-size section of an ice shelf crumbled into the sea.
—Joe McGowan

Recent Examples of ice shelf from the Web

In one version, global warming has continued unchecked, leaving Antarctica and the Southern Ocean with a dramatic loss of ice shelves and an accompanying acceleration in global sea levels.

— meilan solly, Smithsonian, "Antarctic Ice Loss Has Tripled Over the Past Decade," 14 June 2018
Like other Antarctic glaciers Thwaites flows toward the sea—and once there its ice begins to float, forming what is called an ice shelf.

— andrea thompson, Scientific American, "Antarctic Quest Seeks to Predict the Fate of a Linchpin Glacier," 14 May 2018
Now in its tenth year in the Arctic, Operation IceBridge is an airborne mission flown annually over both polar regions using various instruments to measure the changes to the ice sheets, ice shelves, and sea ice.

— National Geographic, "Mysterious Arctic Ice Holes Baffle Scientists," 23 Apr. 2018
Despite the small size of the Antarctic Peninsula, the destabilizing breakup of ice shelves like the Larsen B has driven loss there at an average rate of 20 ± 15 gigatons per year.

— scott k. johnson, Ars Technica, "Latest estimate shows how much Antarctic ice has fallen into the sea," 13 June 2018
Most ice was being lost from West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, where warmer ocean water is melting floating ice shelves at the end of glaciers, allowing ice pent up on land to slide faster toward the sea, the study said.

— author: alister doyle, Anchorage Daily News, "Antarctica’s ice melt is increasing rapidly, study finds, threatening coastal communities worldwide," 13 June 2018
Recently, the continent has seen a reduction in the extent of floating ice shelves.

— jen christensen, CNN, "Scientists lay out how to save a melting Antarctica -- and the grim future if we don't," 13 June 2018
Last July, a massive berg (but not as massive at B-15) called A-68 broke away from the Larsen C ice shelf.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "World’s Largest Iceberg Is Melting Away After 18 Years Adrift," 9 June 2018
The university has also used Storm Petrel to study ice shelves in Antarctica, the Davis Enterprise reported in May 2017.

— michael mcgough, sacbee, "Tahoe deputies help find missing UC Davis research robot that resembles torpedo," 4 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ice shelf.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of ice shelf

1869

in the meaning defined above

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