The area of ice shelves in Antarctica

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Authors: Giovinetto, Mario B., Behrendt, John C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1964
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Filchner Ice Shelf; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Shelf; Ice Shelves; Polar Record
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400054504; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400054504

In Polar Record , Vol 11, No 75,1963, p 735, I. A. Suyetova made calculations of the area of Antarctica and of its major ice shelves based on published and unpublished material available up to 1961. Suyetova's estimate of the area of the ice shelves, excluding attached islands and ice rises, is 1–38 × 10 6 km 2 . In a study of the drainage systems of Antarctica (Giovinetto, 1963) the area of the ice shelves as defined above is estimated at (1·63 ± 0·30) × 10 6 km 2 . The latter estimate is based, except for the region of the Filchner Ice Shelf, on the more recent chart of Antarctica compiled by the American Geographical Society (1962; 1:3000000). The difference between the estimates of total ice shelf area cannot be explained entirely by the margin of error; there are some differences between the areas estimated for particular ice shelves which are significant: