Ice shelf facts for kids

Major Ice shelves in Antartica. ROss Ice shelf is red, Fincher Ronne is the large area in blue

Ross Ice Shelf.

Ronne Ice Shelf, in 2017

An ice shelf is a large platform of ice, where a glacier flows down to a coastline. An ice shelf is usually very thick, usually 100 metres (330 ft) or more. Some ice shelves float on the water. Ice shelves that float are usually much thinner.

The biggest areas of ice shelf are in Antarctica:

• Ross Ice Shelf 509,000 square kilometres (197,000 sq mi), as of 2013
• Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, 430,000 square kilometres (170,000 sq mi)

Images for kids

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  Ice shelf extending approximately 6 miles into the Antarctic Sound from Joinville Island

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  Close-up of Ross Ice Shelf

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  Panorama of Ross Ice Shelf

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  An image of Antarctica differentiating its landmass (dark grey) from its ice shelves (minimum extent, light grey, and maximum extent, white)

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  Processes around an Antarctic ice shelf

See also

In Spanish: Plataforma de hielo para niños