ice shelf

Definition of ice shelf

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

Examples of ice shelf in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The Larsen C is the next ice shelf in line and by far the largest of the three. — Sarah Gibbens, Environment, "Huge iceberg breaking up off South Georgia Island is still a threat," 28 Dec. 2020 The iceberg — dubbed A68a by scientists — broke off from the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica in 2017. — NBC News, "Giant iceberg heading toward South Atlantic island breaks up," 23 Dec. 2020 Between 2018 and 2020, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland reported in September, the region’s largest ice shelf shrank by almost double the size of Manhattan. — Isis Davis-marks, Smithsonian Magazine, "How Indigenous Peoples Adapted to the Arctic’s Harsh Climate," 23 Oct. 2020 The last fully intact ice shelf in Canada collapsed into the Arctic Ocean this summer. — Scott Hershberger, Scientific American, "In Case You Missed It," 20 Oct. 2020 The West Coast is on fire, hurricanes are soaking the US South and Gulf Coast and pieces of the Arctic ice shelf twice the size of Manhattan have broken off. — Katia Hetter, CNN, "50 fun things to do this fall (take your pick)," 22 Sep. 2020 Meanwhile, an iceberg the size of Manhattan has broken off from an ice shelf in Canada. — Editorial Board Star Tribune, Star Tribune, "In smoky skies, clarity on climate crisis," 15 Sep. 2020 The area surveyed had been hidden beneath part of the floating ice shelf extending from Thwaites Glacier, which broke off in 2002, and was then often inaccessible due to thick sea-ice cover. — Emma Reynolds, CNN, "Antarctica's colossal Thwaites Glacier is melting fast -- and scientists may have discovered why," 9 Sep. 2020 As such, the setup leads to a greater control over the experiment to delineate the impact of damage adjacent to ice shelf weakening due to subshelf melt. — Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, "Two Gigantic Antarctic Glaciers Are Breaking Free, Which Is Not Great," 16 Sep. 2020

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.

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Last Updated

12 Jan 2021

Cite this Entry

“Ice shelf.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ice%20shelf. Accessed 25 Jan. 2021.

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