The Milne Ice Shelf on the northwest coast of Nunavut’s Ellesmere Island has broken-up, reducing in size by almost half and setting large ice islands adrift in the Arctic Ocean.
The Milne Ice Shelf on the northwest coast of Nunavut’s Ellesmere Island has broken-up, reducing in size by almost half and setting large ice islands adrift in the Arctic Ocean.
Adrienne White, PhD, an ice analyst at the Canadian Ice Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada, who has worked on the Milne Ice Shelf in the past, discovered the event.
The initial break of this 4,000-year-old feature took place between July 30 and 31 and reduced the ice shelf area from 187 km2 to 106 km2 (43 per cent). One large ice island was created at that time, but it split into two pieces (55 km2 and 24 km2) along with numerous smaller icebergs by August 3.
Carleton University’s Derek Mueller, professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, has visited the ice shelf 11 times since 2004 and was scheduled to visit again this July before his trip was cancelled due to COVID-19.
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Image via Carleton University.
