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Ice shelf

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.

The boundary between floating ice shelf and the grounded (resting on bedrock) ice that feeds it is called the grounding line.

When the grounding line retreats inland, water is added to the ocean and sea level rises.

Note: The above text is excerpted from the Wikipedia article "Ice shelf", which has been released under the GNU Free Documentation License.

For more information, see the following related content on ScienceDaily:

Giant Channels Discovered Beneath Antarctic Ice Shelf: 250 Meter High Channels Will Help Predict Future of Antarctic Ice

Oct. 6, 2013 — Scientists have discovered huge ice channels beneath a floating ice shelf in Antarctica. At 250 meters high, the channels are almost as tall as the Eiffel tower and stretch hundreds of kilometers ... read more

New Antarctic Seabed Sonar Images Reveal Clues To Sea-Level Rise

May 6, 2009 — Motorway-sized troughs and channels carved into Antarctica's continental shelves by glaciers thousands of years ago could help scientists to predict future sea-level rise, according to a new ... read more

Underlying Ocean Melts Ice Shelf, Speeds Up Glacier Movement

Sep. 12, 2013 — Warm ocean water, not warm air, is melting the Pine Island Glacier's floating ice shelf in Antarctica and may be the culprit for increased melting of other ice shelves, according to an ... read more

Evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet

May 26, 2015 — A new light has been shed on the stability of the Antarctic ice sheet. It shows for the first time that ice rises (pinning points that keep the floating parts of ice sheets in place) are formed ... read more

Antarctic Ice Shelf Retreats Happened Before

Feb. 28, 2005 — The retreat of Antarctic ice shelves is not new according to research published this week (24 Feb) in the journal Geology by scientists from Universities of Durham, Edinburgh and British Antarctic ... read more

Tidal Motion Influences Antarctic Ice Sheet

Dec. 24, 2006 — New research into the way the Antarctic ice sheet adds ice to the ocean reveals that tidal motion influences the flow of the one of the biggest ice streams draining the West Antarctic Ice ... read more

Radar Opens New Window Into The Ice For Antarctic Scientists

Oct. 16, 2006 — Scientists are getting their first glimpse into the inner secrets of an ice shelf, thanks to the innovative application of a new radar technique developed by British Antarctic Survey (BAS). Getting a ... read more

Surprise Shrimp Under Antarctic Ice

Mar. 17, 2010 — At a depth of 600 feet beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet, a small shrimp-like creature managed to brighten up an otherwise gray polar ... read more

Scientists Detect Thickening Of West Antarctic Ice Sheet

Jan. 30, 2002 — The stability of the West Antarctic ice sheet has long been a concern because of the potentially catastrophic rise in sea level that would result from its collapse. Researchers at UCSC and NASA now ... read more

Greenland Glacier Calves Island Four Times the Size of Manhattan

Aug. 7, 2010 — A researcher reports that an "ice island" four times the size of Manhattan has calved from Greenland's Petermann Glacier. The last time the Arctic lost such a large chunk of ice was in ... read more

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