Larsen Ice Shelf

- 67.5 - 62.5Koordinaten: 67 ° 30 '0 "S, 62 ° 30 ' 0 " W

The Larsen Ice Shelf is a long-drawn ice shelf in the northwest part of the Weddell Sea, which stretches along the east coast of Antarctic Peninsula from Cape Longing to the area in the south of Hearst Island. It is named after the Norwegian Captain Carl Anton Larsen, who sailed along in December 1893 with Jason on the ice shelf.

On closer inspection, there is a Larsen Ice Shelf of four individual ice shelves, the various bays are allocated. They are named ( from north to south ) as Larsen A, Larsen B, Larsen C and D Larsen. Larsen A is the smallest, Larsen C, the largest of the ice shelves.

Consequences of global warming

Until the late 1980s, the Larsen Ice Shelf from the Prince Gustav Channel to Cape Fiske handed over more than ten degrees of latitude and had a size of 103.4 thousand km ². Larsen A broke up in January 1995 and the Larsen B in February of 2002. Larsen C is obviously stable. The surface of the ice shelf was in January 2005, but only 78,515 km ². The decay is unusual in that ice shelves are smaller than in the normal case in that they " calve " icebergs or melt on its surface. The resolution was a result of global warming; in the field of the Larsen Ice Shelf since the 1940s, been observed the beginning of the regular measurements, a temperature rise of about 0.5 ° C per decade. Other sources doubt this increase with the reference to the measured values ​​of the stations since 1960, which have no significant temperature increase.

The resolution of the Larsen B Ice Shelf was found between 31 January and 7 March 2002 where it broke off with an ice plate of 3,250 square kilometers. Up to this time, the ice shelf was stable throughout the Holocene for more than 10,000 years. In contrast, there was the Larsen -A Ice Shelf only since 4,000 years. The collapse of the Larsen B led to an accelerated flow of ice into the sea behind it. After the collapse of up to 8-fold higher flow rates were measured.

By replacing one of the ice shelf from the sediment of the sea nurturing, chemotrophes ecosystem became available which is mainly composed of a mat of bacteria and mussels.

Trivia

The Larsen Ice Shelf cancel is also mentioned in the apocalyptic film The Day After Tomorrow.