The Wilkins Ice Shelf, a thick slab of ice attached to the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula, is experiencing rapid disintegration, raising concerns among researchers. The ice shelf, which has existed for at least a few centuries, has been shrinking due to a series of disintegrations and large iceberg calvings, reducing its area to roughly 10,300 square kilometers as of 2021.
Drivers of Disintegration
The disintegration events are primarily driven by warming temperatures, which form melt ponds on the ice shelf surface. The meltwater flows into and fills crevasses on the ice shelf surface, causing the crack to push downward and eventually slicing through the ice. This process can lead to rapid disintegration, with pieces breaking off the shelf in a matter of hours or even during the Southern Hemisphere winter, when air temperatures would typically be too cold for surface meltwater.