HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Cook Ice Shelf
OR:
Cook Ice Shelf on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Cook Ice Shelf is an
ice shelf An ice shelf is a large floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface. Ice shelves are only found in Antarctica, Greenland, Northern Canada, and the Russian Arctic. The ...
about wide, occupying a deep recession of the coastline between Cape Freshfield and Cape Hudson, to the east of Deakin Bay. This bay was discovered by the
US Exploring Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...
in 1840, and referred to by Wilkes as Disappointment Bay. This indentation was called Cook Bay by the
Australasian Antarctic Expedition The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was a 1911–1914 expedition headed by Douglas Mawson that explored the largely uncharted Antarctic coast due south of Australia. Mawson had been inspired to lead his own venture by his experiences on Ernest ...
, 1911–14, under
Douglas Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson OBE FRS FAA (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader duri ...
, who named it for Joseph Cook, Prime Minister of Australia in 1914. The generic term has been amended, as the bay is permanently filled by an ice shelf. Scientists studying the
effects of global warming The effects of climate change impact the physical environment, ecosystems and human societies. The environmental effects of climate change are broad and far-reaching. They affect the water cycle, oceans, sea and land ice (glaciers), sea lev ...
have proposed that sea water encroachment in the area could destabilize a significant portion of the
East Antarctic Ice Sheet The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) is one of two large ice sheets in Antarctica, and the largest on the entire planet. The EAIS lies between 45° west and 168° east longitudinally. The EAIS holds enough ice to raise global sea levels by and ...
.


References

* Ice shelves of Antarctica Bodies of ice of George V Land {{GeorgeVLand-geo-stub