Ice Rumples A Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica story
Glaciers
Major rifts have formed near a distinctive feature called the McDonald Ice Rumples. The feature, rising about 10 m above the surrounding ice shelf, may be responsible for the relative stability of Brunt Ice Shelf over most of the 20th Century.
Ice rumples form when ice flows over a rocky formation on the seabed. As the shelf moves toward the ocean, ice collects behind the rock and wrinkles. This rocky formation impedes the flow of ice, causing pressure waves, crevasses, and rifts to form at the surface.
Through this Landsat time series, the feature that causes the rumples remains stationary, while the ice shelf and its rifts flow west.
Location
Dec. 1, 2013, Landsat 8 (path/row 184/114) — McDonald Ice Rumples, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Oct. 31, 2016, Landsat 8 (path/row 183/114) — McDonald Ice Rumples, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Dec. 21, 2017, Landsat 8 (path/row 183/114) — McDonald Ice Rumples, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Nov. 20, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 185/114) — McDonald Ice Rumples, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Dec. 22, 2020, Landsat 8 (path/row 182/114) — McDonald Ice Rumples, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Dec. 25, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 182/114) — McDonald Ice Rumples, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Feb. 8, 2022, Landsat 9 (path/row 185/114) — McDonald Ice Rumples, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica Additional Imagery & Stories
A-74
It soon became too dark to see A-74, which covered 1,270 km2, as the Antarctic winter set in. But Landsat 8 continued imaging with its Thermal Infrare...
Chasm 1
A feature known as Chasm 1 is prominent in the Landsat imagery. This crack reactivated in December 2012 after no movement for 35 years. The Landsat im...
Halley Station
The British Antarctic Survey has studied Brunt Ice Shelf in person since 1955. Scientists at their Halley Research Station study Earth, atmospheric, a...
Halloween Crack
Another rift appeared on the Brunt Ice Shelf in October 2016 and quickly extended eastward. Dubbed Halloween Crack, it’s located about 12 km north of ...
North Rift
While a large iceberg was threatening to form from the Halloween Crack or Chasm 1, a new rift suddenly appeared in satellite images in September 2019 ...
North Rift 2
The rift continued to push northeast at up to 1 km per day as it cut through the 150-m thick ice shelf. GPS equipment detected a break on February 26,...