Vast Antarctic Ice Shelf on Verge of Collapse

[lovuian]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080325/sc_livescience/vastantarcticiceshelfonvergeofcollapse

A vast ice shelf hanging on by a thin strip looks to be the next chunk to break off from the Antarctic Peninsula, the latest sign of global warming's impact on Earth's southernmost continent.

Scientists are shocked by the rapid change of events.

Glaciologist Ted Scambos of the University of Colorado was monitoring satellite images of the Wilkins Ice Shelf and spotted a huge iceberg measuring 25 miles by 1.5 miles (41 kilometers by 2.5 kilometers - about 10 times the area of Manhattan) that appeared to have broken away from the shelf.

Scambos alerted colleagues at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) that it looked like the entire ice shelf - about 6,180 square miles (16,000 square kilometers - about the size of Northern Ireland)- was at risk of collapsing.

David Vaughan of the BAS had predicted in 1993 that the northern part of the Wilkins Ice Shelf was likely to be lost within 30 years if warming on the Peninsula continued at the same rate.
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Thats if it stays the same rate what if it melts faster than that

[HereSince1628]

1. Anyone know if that allowes accelerated glacial movement into the sea?

Just wondering.

[hatrack]

2. I should think so, though the Wilkins seems to be farther out to sea than Larsen B was

The Douglas Range and Lemay Range (running along the 70th parallel) would seem the likeliest candidates to release the glaciers they contain at higher rates of speed.