Quantitative estimates of the mass flux and ice movement along the ice edges in the eastern and southern Weddell Sea

Abstract

Data on the positions of ice edges in the eastern and southern Weddell Sea for the years 1980 to 1984 are presented. The apparent areal growth of individual ice shelves in the Weddell Sea region are also assessed. Together with estimates of near-ice-edge ice thicknesses, an apparent annual discharge rate is computed. The results support earlier contentions that large ice shelves undergo episodic, major calving events with frequencies well in excess of a few years, while smaller ice shelves are subject to more frequent calving, thus keeping the ice fronts close to equilibrium. -from Current Antarctic Literature