Can an ice shelf break up in the middle of winter?

Question

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMG58VG3HF_index_0.html

Answer 1

yes, just because it is middle of winter doesn't necessarily mean its cold temperature wise, also avalanches and the like still occur when its cold, plate techtonics and such activities still continue to occur

Answer 2

It can, depending on water temperatures.  An extended or fluctuating warm ocean current can cause it.  It appears that this is happening with Wilkins.

Answer 3

Well, this is oversimplified, but  it's possible. If the ice shelf has been weakened (as by rising overall average temperatures such as are occurring in the region)  and then gets hit by severe storms and wave action (as during winter storms) it can fracture and  break up.  It's unusual, of course.

Answer 4

"The Antarctic Peninsula has experienced extraordinary warming in the past 50 years of 2.5°C"

I still agree, it's impressive that the breakup is occurring even in winter.

Answer 5

thanks for posting this ,i managed to get it all plus the movements into my eco problems page.

http://byderule.multiply.com/journal/ite...

last entry on the bottom

Yesterday on the Mexican News was also a big story about one of the major glaziers breaking up in Argentina and collapsing. It is also middle of winter there.

What does this mean ???

is global warming still here

And does this stuff get on the US news?????

lol

Answer 6

yes

Answer 7

no its completely impossible

Answer 8

In winter glaciers like this one are usually protected by pack ice even in summer in a small boat it is quite often very calm inside the pack ice, it acts as a sort of break water. The image here appears to show mostly clear water either side of Wilkins so a big winter storm would act directly on the glacier, wave action and storm surge are the main damaging forces. Large ice sheets have quite a bit of flex and can deal with tides and normal wave movement.

Winter sea ice surrounds Antarctica (including the Peninsula) the link below shows last years sea ice extent, but sea ice can also be affected by weather and areas can be pushed out to sea and broken up even in winter and while sea ice is amazingly strong, you can drive a 10 ton bulldozer on sea ice only a few of feet thick, a storm can brake up 100s of square km in a few hours.

The second link gives some idea of the forces and cause of these storms.

Answer 9

An ice shelf doesn't break off because it is warm.

It breaks off because there is no support underneath the shelf, and with all the snow on top of it it simply cannot keep itself together. (snow weighs a lot)

So the break off is not temp related.

Answer 10

It depends on who's winter and where the ice shelf is located. If it is winter in the US and Europe it would be expected that in Antarctica an ice shelf might break up.

Answer 11

I was in Antarctica 4 years ago. The scientists working down there told me that the main body of the continent was getting colder and the ice thicker, only the peninsular (3% of the land area) was loosing ice and that was due to erosion from sea currents.

Since then I have taken AGW horror stories with a large pinch of salt.

Answer 12

Sure. Icebergs are formed from glaciers advancing. If the glacier's advancing creates a weakness in the ice, it breaks no matter how cold it is.

Also, 2% of Antarctic is warming. The other 98% is colder or the same. You may want to check the recent volcano discovered under the peninsula.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/...

http://www.warwickhughes.com/blog/?p=43

Answer 13

Wilkins Ice Shelf, a broad plate of floating ice south of South America on the Antarctic Peninsula.

In other words its north of the Antarctic, where its warmer.

Answer 14

The air temperature may be below freezing in Antarctica, but if the ocean is warm enough after absorbing the excess heat because of AGW, it can melt from below.  It will thin out and break up.    There is more evidence the ocean is warming from AGW (other problem are discussed as well) in a report just published by NOAA.  The breakup of the ice sheets is consistent with the oceanic warming that has resulted from AGW.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008...

Answer 15

it would appear so.

seems unusual at first, but on second thought, maybe not.

i doubt that the ice in that area gets significantly thicker and thinner through the year, unlike many other places, like the arctic.

so, it would then depend on the strength of the storms and/or ocean currents.

seems i've read that they're quite something around that part of the world.