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Science 9 February 1996:
Vol. 271. no. 5250, pp. 788 - 792
DOI: 10.1126/science.271.5250.788
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Reports

Rapid Collapse of Northern Larsen Ice Shelf, Antarctica

Helmut Rott,  Pedro Skvarca,  Thomas Nagler

In January 1995, 4200 square kilometers of the northern Larsen Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, broke away. Radar images from the ERS-1 satellite, complemented by field observations, showed that the two northernmost sections of the ice shelf fractured and disintegrated almost completely within a few days. This breakup followed a period of steady retreat that coincided with a regional trend of atmospheric warming. The observations imply that after an ice shelf retreats beyond a critical limit, it may collapse rapidly as a result of perturbated mass balance.


H. Rott and T. Nagler, Institut für Meteorologie und Geophysik der Universität Innsbruck, Innrain 52, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
P. Skvarca, Instituto Antártico Argentino, Cerrito 1248, 1010 Buenos Aires, Argentina.


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