When this closely watched slab of floating ice births a giant iceberg, it will not be the first time it has seen dramatic change.
Published Feb 7, 2017Image of the Day Heat Land Water Snow and Ice Sea and Lake Ice
To understand ice sheets, glaciologists venture both below the surface with ice cores, and into the sky with satellites. Satellite imagery of the Greenland Ice Sheet reveals melt ponds that can affect glacier flow and sea level.
Published Oct 29, 2008
Ice shelves are thick slabs of ice that are attached to coastlines and extend out over the ocean. In the natural course of events, ice shelves often calve large icebergs. On February 28, 2008, however, the Wilkins Ice Shelf rapidly disintegrated into small pieces.
Published Mar 27, 2008
This approximately true-color image shows ice fragments left over from previous breakups of the Wilkins Ice Shelf.
Published Apr 19, 2009
The tip of the Antarctic Peninsula showed dramatic seasonal changes in late January 2008. On January 24, 2008, the fast ice looked solidly frozen. Several days later, on January 30, 2008, the ice’s new blue hue suggested something had changed.
Published Feb 6, 2008
The land and sea along Antarctica’s Mawson Coast offer a study in ice forms.
Published Dec 31, 2011
Changing weather conditions left their mark on sea ice along the Antarctic Peninsula in late 2008 and early 2009. In mid-December 2008, melt water resting on the sea ice colored it sky blue. At the beginning of 2009, however, the sea ice appeared snowy white, and cracks had begun along the ice margin.
Published Jan 9, 2009
Acquired October 7, 2011, this natural-color image shows an ice menagerie off the coast of East Antarctica.
Published Oct 23, 2011
In January 2015, a new iceberg broke off from an ice shelf in East Antarctica that had otherwise been quiet for decades.
Published Feb 7, 2015
Melt ponds on the surface of Greenland’s ice sheet are an important indicator of the strength of the 2013 melt season.
Published Jul 9, 2013
A narrow ice bridge connecting Charcot Island and Latady Island broke apart in April 2009.
Published Apr 8, 2009
Acquired in 2003, 2004,and 2005, these images show an intermittently ice-filled bay in the wake of the 2002 collapse of the Larsen B Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Published Apr 9, 2010
