Greenland ice shelf. If melted, this ice sheet would raise sea levels by 7.
Greenland ice shelf. And Greenland is very much still processing its glacial past, a new study Nov 7, 2023 · In this study, we provide a long-term and holistic view of ice shelf evolution in North Greenland. Here we explore the response of Sermeq Kujalleq in Greenland to limiting warm water inflow to the fjord Nov 17, 2023 · A new study shows the largest floating ice shelves in North Greenland have lost more than a third of their volume since 1978, largely due to warming ocean temperatures. For the first time, the dH/dt values are adjusted for changes in surface elevation resulting from temperature-driven variations in the rate of firn compaction. This melting poses a risk to their crucial role in limiting ice flow into the ocean, impacting sea level rise. The map on the right illustrates the difference from the 1981 to 2010 average melt days for the same period. Oct 14, 2025 · Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: NASA scientists have found the remains of a U. Mar 8, 2024 · The mass of the Greenland ice sheet has rapidly declined in the last several years due to surface melting and iceberg calving. Antarctica is losing ice mass at an average rate of about 135 billion tons per year, and Greenland is losing about 266 billion tons per year. Where there are no strong currents, the ice becomes partly grounded on the sea bottom and attaches itself to rocks and islands. Because calving constitutes a major component of Greenland's continued mass loss, it is important that Jul 30, 2025 · A build-up of meltwater under the Greenland ice sheet in 2014 resulted in a flood of such magnitude that it burst upward through tens of meters of solid ice, fracturing the surface and spilling water to the open air. Sep 18, 2023 · Thinning and calving both contribute to the loss of ice shelves in the Antarctic, but how to they affect sea level? Sep 14, 2020 · A big chunk of ice has broken away from the Arctic's largest remaining ice shelf - 79N, or Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden - in north-east Greenland. Feb 12, 2025 · Greenland’s ice sheet, spanning over 1. This paper investigates ancient ice streams by presenting the first 3D seismic geomorphological analysis of a major glacigenic succession offshore Greenland. Aug 18, 2022 · Ice shelves | Icebergs | Sea ice | Further reading | References | Comments | Ice shelves An ice shelf is a floating extension of land ice. 3 and 2. 5 years (Greenland) and 9 years (Antarctica) of satellite radar altimetry data from the European Remote-sensing Satellites ERS-1 and -2. After taking radar images of the ice, Greene Apr 15, 2019 · Eleven phases of advance of the Greenland Ice Sheet, following the first expansion between 3. Is that ice more vulnerable than we know? PROMICE combines ice thickness estimates with ice velocity measurements to approximate solid-ice discharge over Greenland (Mankoff et al. About 99 percent of the world’s glacier ice is in these two ice masses, 91 percent in Antarctica alone. In Melville Bugt, northwest Greenland, six sets of landforms (five buried and one on the seafloor) have been Nov 7, 2023 · The Greenland ice sheet is the second-largest contributor to sea level rise, and as temperatures rise, glaciers in the northern parts of the region are becoming "extremely vulnerable. Almost 80% of Greenland’s landmass is covered by the ice sheet, expanding an area over 1. The Antarctic continent is surrounded by ice shelves. Is an ice sheet Apr 17, 2025 · The melting of glaciers by ocean waters along the ice sheet periphery is a major physical process driving glacier evolution in a changing climate. Icebergs are one of the Big Arctic Five experiences in Greenland, and you can see them by the thousands from air, water, or land at the Ilulissat Icefjord. Often the glacier ice flows outward over the frozen ocean in the form of landfast sea ice, displacing it Feb 5, 2013 · Greenland's surface melting in 2012 was intense, far in excess of any earlier year in the satellite record since 1979. There are approximately 300 ice shelves around Antarctica. They cover >1. As ice melts, the resulting water drains into the ocean and contributes to sea level rise. It lies from 71 ° N northwards, between the Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean [1]. Greenland's vast ice sheet is undergoing a surge in meltingThe deluge of melting has reached deep into Greenland's enormous icy interior, with data from the Danish government showing that the ice sheet lost 8. Feb 20, 2024 · While ice shelves in Antarctica are ubiquitous extensions of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, in Greenland only three glaciers possess a floating ice tongue: the Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden Glacier (79 North Sep 14, 2020 · A big chunk of ice has broken away from the Arctic's largest remaining ice shelf - 79N, or Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden - in north-east Greenland. For a few days, 97% of the entire ice sheet indicated surface melting. The Greenland Ice Sheet is the largest ice mass in the Northern Hemisphere. Nov 7, 2023 · Among the eight ice shelves which supported the vast glaciers of North Greenland, three have completely collapsed, while the five which remain have been retreating rapidly. Petermann Gletscher in North Greenland features the second largest floating ice shelf in the Northern Hemisphere. The amount of fresh water stored in both the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets total over 68 percent of the fresh water on Earth. 6 million years ago, are documented in analyses of a grid of seismic reflection data. Overall, total melt-day extent as of June 20 is thirteenth highest in the 47-year satellite record. The ice from The Greenland ice sheet covers approximately 82 percent of Greenland’s surface. 4°N (northernmost land point in the world) to 59. The sheet is a mass of glacial land ice and is an integral part of Nov 7, 2023 · Greenland’s northern ice shelves have lost more than a third of their volume since 1978, new research finds. Sep 8, 2017 · Changes in ice mass are estimated from elevation changes derived from 10. military base, hidden under the ice in Greenland for nearly 60 years. Ice shelf extending approximately 6 miles into the Antarctic Sound from Joinville Island An ice shelf is "a floating slab of ice originating from land of considerable thickness extending from the coast (usually of great horizontal extent with a very gently sloping surface), resulting from the flow of ice sheets, initially formed by the accumulation of snow, and Nov 9, 2023 · A team of scientists led by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) has revealed alarming findings about Greenland’s ice shelves. In July 2012, a very unusual weather event occurred. 1 meters — nearly 7 feet — should they break down and Aug 8, 2023 · In 2018, using an earlier version of a data set from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite and the techniques developed for Greenland, Miller and another researcher at CIRES, Ted Scambos, discovered perennial firn aquifers on the Antarctic Peninsula within ice shelves, which are floating tongues of ice extending onto surrounding Jul 10, 2025 · Surface melting on the Greenland Ice Sheet is on a slightly above-average track for the 2025 melt season, with melt along the western coast leading the way. S. This paper describes the history of its exploration and presents new ocean and glacier observations. A meandering melt stream feeds the supraglacial lake in Greenland, eroding a channel on the ice sheet. Oct 11, 2025 · Glacier - Ice Sheets, Glaciation, Melting: Two great ice masses, the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, stand out in the world today and may be similar in many respects to the large Pleistocene ice sheets. — Credit: Ian Joughin/Imaggeo Together, the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets contain more than 99 percent of the fresh water ice on Earth. Feb 8, 2024 · Fig. military base buried 100 feet below the surface of the ice in Greenland. Jan 18, 2024 · The study published in the journal Nature found the ice shelf, which makes up 80 per cent of the surface of Greenland, lost an additional 1,034 gigatonnes of mass between 1985 and 2022. Here, the grounded ice sits on land that is below sea level. A tipping point could come by the turn of the next century, a new study warns. Some named Antarctic iceshelves. Nov 9, 2022 · While most of the 2022 Greenland melt season was near average, September set records for high temperatures, melt extent, and ice loss. We show these are associated with a characteristic range of iceberg sizes. Surface melt on the ice sheet results from daily weather conditions that are driven by air temperatures, winds, and feedback effect from changes in the snow or surface dust and soot. A persistent high air pressure pattern off the southeastern tip of the island, and low air pressure over the Canadian Archipelago—and remnants from Hurricane Fiona Sep 5, 2024 · The data reveal that the Greenland Ice Sheet extended all the way to the shelf break along the entire northwest Greenland margin, much farther than previously thought. Nov 7, 2023 · The glaciers of North Greenland are hosting enough ice to raise sea level by 2. Tourist flights, boat trips, and the only road to the Greenland Ice Sheet bring one of only two polar ice caps in the world directly to your doorstep. Greenland is mostly covered by this single large ice sheet (1,700,000 square kilometres), while isolated glaciers and small ice caps totaling between 76,000 and 100,000 square kilometres occur around the periphery. The southernmost regions of Greenland have a relatively mild climate for its high latitude due to the warm water North Atlantic Current. The Greenland ice sheet is Sep 1, 2022 · Ice collapsing off the Russell Glacier in Greenland. " Dec 20, 2024 · New satellite images show the extreme melting that has taken place on the critical Greenland ice sheet, according to researchers. The different impacts of long-term and short-term variability — coupled with the fact that ice sheet model forcing often excludes extremes or Jul 1, 2025 · An extensive body of work from the continental shelf offshore of northeast Greenland shows strong evidence for a shelf-edge terminating, grounded ice sheet in several of the cross-shelf troughs in this region, including Westwind and Norske troughs. The ejected section covers about 110 square km Jan 9, 2023 · An ice shelf is a thick, floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface, typically in Antarctica or Greenland. Greenland stretches more than 24 degrees of latitude from 83. Camp Century, as it Nov 8, 2023 · Three of North Greenland's eight enormous ice shelves have already undergone complete collapse. However, this colossal body of ice is undergoing a rapid transformation. The vast interior of Greenland is covered with continental ice shelves. Feb 16, 2025 · The team found the tipping point for Greenland’s ice sheet occurs when approximately 230 gigatons of ice is lost in a single year, which corresponds to a 60% decrease from the pre-industrial Jan 17, 2024 · Greenland’s expansive ice sheet is known to be shrinking, especially since the 1990s, because of warming from climate change. A) Juneau Ice Shelf B) Ross Ice Shelf C) Greenland Ice Shelf D) Larsen Ice Shelf E) Hawaiian Ice Shelf 15) According to the map in the textbook, which continent had the greatest total of ice-covered land? Ice shelves are floating glaciers – the outer edges of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Aug 29, 2022 · The current generation of coupled climate and ice sheet models used to forecast future sea level rise fail to capture the emerging processes that we see amplifying Greenland’s ice loss. We detect a uniform Jul 23, 2025 · Our scientific data analysis articles for the Greenland Ice Sheet melt season are typically published from April 1 to November 1. What humans do now—especially before the end of this decade—will set that pace, and determine how fast impacts grow, and how much time society has to adapt. Ice shelves are found along the coasts of the world’s two remaining ice sheets, Antarctica and Greenland. The standardized melt index was nearly double the previous record. Nov 8, 2023 · New research reveals the alarming impact of climate change on ice shelves and glaciers in northern Greenland. Using a fiber-optic-tethered Grounding line Remote Operated Vehicle, we explore the ice shelf cavity of Petermann Glacier, in Northwestern Greenland, with an interferometric multibeam sonar operating with 360 viewing capability. Though a tipping point for future ice loss has already been crossed, the pace of this loss is not set in stone. The glacier and its fjord are named after German cartographer August Heinrich Petermann. The larger Antarctic ice shelves are the size of small nations and over a hundred feet thick. Dec 5, 2012 · The summer of 2012 brought Greenland far more extensive melt than anything observed in the satellite record: in July 2012, surface melt extended over nearly the entire ice sheet. Oct 1, 2024 · The Baffin Bay ice shelf buttressed several large ice streams of the Greenland, Innuitian and Laurentide ice sheets at the Last Glacial Maximum, and its break-up may have contributed to instigating the deglacial retreat of these ice streams from the shelf edge. military base that's been hiding under the ice in Greenland for nearly 60 years. However, ongoing changes in the operation . The graph shows daily melt area from April 1 to June 12, 2024, with daily melt area for other high melt years, plus the record high year of 2012. 5bn tons of surface mass on Tuesday alone. Ice sheets typically flow to the sea, where they may form an ice shelf, ice tongue, or tidewater glacier. The glaciers of North Greenland are hosting enough ice to raise sea level by 2. Antarctic Ice Sheet melt season articles are published from November 1 to April 1. Research based on observations from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites (2002-2017) and GRACE Follow-On (since 2018 - ) indicates that between 2002 and 2023, Greenland shed approximately 270 gigatons of ice per year, causing global sea level Jun 18, 2024 · Figure 1. The extent Jun 17, 2025 · The collapse of the world’s second-largest ice sheet would drown cities worldwide. Here, we show that since 1978, Jun 15, 2025 · Greenland’s second-largest ice shelf, the Petermann, is melting faster than expected — and not for the reason scientists initially thought. The ice Jun 3, 2025 · Greenland is key to understanding rising sea levels and the balance of global climate systems. Greenland’s present-day situation could serve as a blueprint for understanding how Antarctica’s much larger ice shelves might respond to increasing meltwater input in the coming centuries, potentially helping scientists anticipate future changes in Antarctic ice flow. Oct 18, 2023 · Rivers of meltwater carve into the Greenland ice sheet. 7 million square kilometers, stands as the largest freshwater reservoir in the Northern Hemisphere. The ejected section covers about 110 square km Nov 8, 2023 · The last remaining Northern Greenland ice shelves bracing the region's vast ice sheet have lost a third of their volume in the last four decades, researchers said on Tuesday, warning of the risk of "dramatic" sea level rise. Ice shelf, thick mass of floating ice that is attached to land, formed from and fed by tongues of glaciers extending outward from the land into sheltered waters. The largest ice shelf on earth Petermann Glacier (Danish: Petermann Gletsjer) is a large glacier located in North-West Greenland to the east of Nares Strait. 2 meters. We find that the floating ice shelf is strongly coupled to the ocean below and to Nares Strait at time scales from tidal to interannual. 4°N at Cape Farewell. Most ice shelves Jul 23, 2025 · A moderately intense melt season for the Greenland Ice Sheet has continued in July, with an extended period of high temperatures and coastal melting in mid-July where nearly half of the ice sheet experienced melt. Jun 17, 2025 · Antarctica hosts by far the greatest collection of ice shelves on the planet—the White Continent comes fringed by 162 ice shelves (15 major ice shelves and 147 minor ones)—with only a few smaller examples found elsewhere, namely in the Arctic Canada, Russia, and Greenland. Nov 27, 2024 · NASA scientists have found the remains of a U. 1: Antarctic and Greenland ice mass change. This leads to an expansion of the ice-shelf area and to a rise in global mean sea level. Together they cover around three quarters of the Antarctic coastline – roughly the same area as the entire Greenland Ice Sheet. Warming oceans can lead to an increase in melting of the ice shelves from underneath, eventually undercutting the grounded ice, causing it to float. 1 meters — nearly 7 feet — should they break down and Dec 21, 2024 · The new research finds that between 2010 and 2023, Greenland lost 563 cubic miles (2,347 cubic kilometers) of ice, which is enough to fill Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake. Ice Caps Ice caps cover less than 50,000 square kilometers and usually feed a series of Nov 21, 2012 · Greenland Ice Sheet Today offers the latest satellite data on surface melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Mar 12, 2025 · Ice loss in Greenland is already large, irreversible, and greatly accelerated after centuries of near stability. The leading edge of the ice fractures as it moves outwards due to internal stress and drag over bedrock, creating crevasses and rifts than can lead to icebergs that calve, or break away, once the ice reaches the ocean. The boundary Already, researchers have documented the collapse of Greenland’s ice shelves and the disappearance of Arctic “ ghost islands ”, which turned out to be melting icebergs. Nov 7, 2023 · Scientists analyzed eight ice shelves buttressing glaciers in northern Greenland, which together hold enough ice to raise sea levels by 2. Aug 16, 2022 · The size of the last glacial ice sheet on the Northeast (NE) Greenland shelf and its interaction with ocean circulation have been the subject of debate. During an April flight over the Greenland Ice Sheet, NASA scientist Chad Greene added a pretty surprising entrant to that list: a secret military base. During the second event, an unprecedented occurrence of rain at the National Science Foundation’s Summit Station took place. Ice tongues behave rather like an ice shelf, but are more confined. Since 1978, the largest floating ice shelves of the polar ice sheet have lost more than a third of their volume According to the researchers, the Nov 24, 2021 · Two near-record melt events occurred in the 2021 melt season for the Greenland Ice Sheet, in late July and in mid-August. Select an article below to explore ice sheet melt conditions by month and year-to-date Oct 27, 2025 · NASA scientists recently discovered the abandoned Camp Century, a Cold War-era U. The thick May 9, 2022 · Here, we use a numerical ice-sheet model to determine if Petermann Ice Shelf in northwest Greenland can recover from a future breakup. NASA’s Gravity and Recovery and Climate Experiment results estimate that 239 cubic kilometers (57. Sep 14, 2020 · An enormous chunk of Greenland’s ice cap has broken off in the far northeastern Arctic, a development that scientists say is evidence of rapid climate change. Abstract. 561 million km2 (an area the size of Greenland)[1], fringing 75% of Antarctica’s coastline, covering 11% of its … Ice shelves, icebergs and sea ice Read More » Feb 4, 2025 · Observing Greenland from a helicopter, the main problem is one of comprehending scale. This part of Greenland is buttressed by the last remaining ice shelves of the ice sheet. I have thought we were skimming low over the waves of a fjord, before noticing the tiny shadow of a seabird Oct 10, 2025 · The Greenland Ice Sheet is a single ice sheet or glacier covering about 80 percent of the island of Greenland. The bedrock of the continent of Antarctica is almost completely buried under ice May 21, 2025 · Earth's 'catastrophic' ice melt problem is worse than previously thought, study says The world's two gigantic ice sheets are in greater peril from global warming than previously thought, a study Feb 3, 2025 · Greenland’s glaciers are falling apart faster than expected New 3D study shows meltwater driving fissures deeper into the glacial ice. [1] NASA scientists recently discovered an abandoned Cold War-era U. S Oct 27, 2025 · NASA scientists recently discovered an abandoned Cold War-era U. Under cooling or cold conditions, the ice that reaches the sea will flow out over the ocean, floating as a thick ice plate on top of it. Sep 14, 2020 · A 44-square-mile chunk of ice, about twice the size of Manhattan, has broken off the Arctic’s largest remaining ice shelf in northeast Greenland in the last two years, leaving scientists fearful May 28, 2024 · The Greenland Ice Sheet is one of two continent-scale ice masses on Earth, with the other being the Antarctic Ice Sheet. 1 m, and have long considered to be stable. Sep 14, 2020 · A 44-square-mile chunk of ice, about twice the size of Manhattan, has broken off the Arctic’s largest remaining ice shelf in northeast Greenland in the last two years, leaving scientists fearful Oct 11, 2025 · Glacier - Greenland, Ice Sheet, Melting: The Greenland Ice Sheet, though subcontinental in size, is huge compared with other glaciers in the world except that of Antarctica. Warmer ocean waters, directly linked to climate change, have led to the rapid disintegration of ice shelves and are now pushing the remaining ice shelves to the brink of collapse. Ice Sheets Today offers the latest satellite data and scientific analyses on surface melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet in the Northern Hemisphere and Antarctic Ice Sheet in the Southern Hemisphere. A few well-known shelves dot the northern hemisphere along Canada’s coast, but the majority of ice shelves are found along the coast of Antarctica. Melting at the ice sheet's surface can spur more melt, creating a dangerous feedback loop. Ice streams provide a fundamental control on ice sheet discharge and depositional patterns along glaciated margins. How do ice shelves form? Ice shelves form in areas where cold ocean water lies next to a large continental glacier or ice sheet that reaches the sea. 7 million km 2. Our observations cover the 2012 to 2016 Sep 25, 2025 · Key Takeaway: Ice sheets, which store large amounts of fresh water on land, are melting as Earth’s air and ocean temperatures warm. The data also suggest the presence of a vast ice shelf in northern Baffin Bay, which was fed by ice streams from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (Figure 2). 3 cubic miles) of the ice sheet are melting each year. It is the largest ice mass in the Northern Hemisphere, globally second in size to only the Antarctic ice mass. May 20, 2025 · The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are on course for rapid retreat, even collapse, leading to multiple feet of sea level rise even if the world pulls off the miraculous and keeps global Nov 1, 2024 · Iceberg calving is ubiquitous at the ocean-bounded edges of ice sheets. Camp Century, as it was called, was a Cold War-era satellite for the U. It connects the Greenland ice sheet to the Arctic Ocean at 81°10' north latitude, near Hans Island. About Ice Shelves and Icebergs An ice shelf is defined as a permanent piece of floating ice connected to a landmass. A new study just published in Nature Communications, shows that Greenland’s last stable ice shelves have started to thin and disintegrate, accelerating the global sea-level rise. However, the stability of the ice sheets has changed considerably in the twenty-first century. This part of Greenland is but-tressed by the last remaining ice shelves Ice loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet has immediate and global influence on sea level rise, with impacts including coastal erosion, saltwater inundation of freshwater resources, and increased flooding frequency. It contains 12 percent of the world’s glacier ice and was first crossed by the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen and his party in 1888. Dec 15, 2017 · Scientists just published a map of what lies beneath the Greenland ice sheet, the most accurate and comprehensive chart of this terrain yet, and it's going to be crucial in making calculations about potential sea level rises in the future. Scientists have said that with the warming of the ocean, the ice shelves will continuously retreat and will have threatening consequences for global sea levels. Nov 7, 2023 · Greenland’s floating ice platforms — which hold back trillions of tons of ice that could cause sea level rise — are in stark decline, according to a new study. The approximation arises in the areas between the measurement sites and the downstream calving fronts, as the product does not measure accumulation or ablation in these areas, nor does it account for Dec 30, 2024 · Disturbing time-lapse captures 563 cubic miles of ice vanishing from Greenland The study found that the ice sheet experienced its most significant losses in 2012 and 2019. The left map illustrates the cumulative melt days on the Greenland Ice Sheet for the 2024 melt season through June 12. Researchers agree that ice-sheet melt in Greenland will lead to at least several inches of global sea-level rise by the end of the century Aug 5, 2024 · Arctic fossils indicate ice shelf is not as stable as previously thought, scientists say Central Greenland was once iceless, an analysis of fossils show. Here we provide insights into the extent of th Feb 7, 2022 · Greenland Ice Sheet's outlet glaciers often end in a floating ice tongue. However, not all iceberg calving is the same: at least three distinct mechanisms govern the discharge of solid ice from the Greenland Ice Sheet. Mar 7, 2025 · Active conservation of an ice sheet seeks to reduce ice sheet mass loss and sea level rise. If melted, this ice sheet would raise sea levels by 7. 2020). 6 days ago · Earth's mantle is so gooey, it takes eons for material that has been displaced by the weight of ice sheets to flow back. 1 meters — nearly 7 feet — should they break down and Feb 23, 2025 · Greenland's ice sheet has been losing a staggering amount of ice at an accelerating rate. The shelf Nov 7, 2023 · Scientists analyzed eight ice shelves buttressing glaciers in northern Greenland, which together hold enough ice to raise sea levels by 2. eqwcycjypbmq1bfmogcappqyfdknlqrit4m