Wilkins Sound
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Wilkins Sound is a seaway in Antarctica that is largely occupied by the Wilkins Ice Shelf. It is located between the concave western coastline of Alexander Island and the shores of Charcot Island and Latady Island farther to the west.
Its northern portion was first seen and roughly mapped in 1910 by the French Antarctic Expedition under Jean-Baptiste Charcot and was observed from the air in 1929 by Sir Hubert Wilkins. The configuration of the sound was determined in 1940 on exploratory flights by the US Antarctic Service (USAS). It was named by the USAS for Sir Hubert Wilkins, who in 1929 first proved "Charcot Land" to be an island (see Charcot Island) and thereby indirectly discovered this feature. The existence of Latady Island at the southwest side of the sound was determined in 1960 by D.J.H. Searle of Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) by examination of air photos taken by the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition (RARE), 1947–48.
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[edit] Wilkins Ice Shelf
The Wilkins Ice Shelf is a rectangular ice shelf about 80 nautical miles long and 60 nautical miles wide (150 km by 110 km). This feature occupies the central part of Wilkins Sound, from which it takes its name. The name was proposed by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) in 1971.
[edit] Effects of global warming
- Further information: Retreat of glaciers since 1850
In 1993 Professor David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) predicted that the northern part of the Wilkins ice shelf was likely to be lost within 30 years if climate warming on the Peninsula were to continue at the same rate.[1]
A study by the National Academy of Sciences in 2002 stated, "Because air temperatures are statistically increasing along the Antarctic Peninsula region, the presence of glacial meltwater is likely to become more prevalent in these surface waters and continue to play an ever-increasing role in driving this fragile ecosystem."
On March 25, 2008 a 405 km² (160 sq mi) chunk of the Wilkins ice shelf disintegrated, putting an even larger portion of the glacial ice shelf at risk.[2][3] While temperature almost certainly played a part in this disintegration, several recent earthquakes magnitude 5.0 and greater along the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge may also have contributed.[4][5][6] Scientists were surprised when they discovered the rest of the 14,000 km² (5,400 sq mi)[7] ice shelf is beginning to break away from the continent. What is left of the Wilkins ice shelf is now connected by only a narrow beam of ice.[8]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ British Antarctic Survey, "Antarctic ice shelf hangs by a thread"
- ^ Associated Press, "Western Antarctic Ice Chunk Collapses"
- ^ Satellite imagery from the United States "National Snow and Ice Data Center" Scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder offered the first alert. (Mercopress, " Gigantic ice shelf breaking away", 26 March 2008).
- ^ USGS Earthquake Report PCB7
- ^ USGS Earthquake Report BSCF
- ^ USGS Earthquake Report PEKF
- ^ The US state of Connecticut is 5,543 sq mi (14,360 km²), the island of Jamaica 4,244 sq mi (10,990 km²).
- ^ Antarctic ice shelf 'hanging by a thread', New Scientist, 2008-03-25, accessed on 2008-03-25
This article incorporates text from Wilkins Sound, in the Geographic Names Information System, operated by the United States Geological Survey, and therefore a public domain work of the United States Government.
