Shackleton Ice Shelf is an extensive

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 ...

fronting the coast of East Antarctica from 95° E to 105° E. It extends for an along-shore distance of about , projecting seaward about in the western portion and in the east. It occupies an area of . It is part of Mawson Sea and separates the Queen Mary Coast to the west from the

Knox Coast Knox Coast, part of Wilkes Land, is that portion of the coast of Antarctica lying between Cape Hordern, at 100°31′E, and the Hatch Islands, at 109°16′E. History The coast was discovered in February 1840 by the U.S. Exploring Expedition (183 ...

Wilkes Land Wilkes Land is a large district of land in eastern Antarctica, formally claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory, though the validity of this claim has been placed for the period of the operation of the Antarctic Treaty ...

to the east.

Discovery and naming

The existence of this ice shelf was first made known by the USEE under

Charles Wilkes Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War (1861–1865), he commanded ' during the ...

who mapped a portion of it from the ''

Vincennes Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attache ...

'' in February 1840. It was explored by the Australian Antarctic Expedition 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 ...

(1911–14) who named it for Sir

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

. The extent of the ice shelf was mapped in greater detail in 1955, using aerial photography obtained by US Navy Operation Highjump, 1946–47. Further mapping by the Soviet Expedition of 1956 showed the portion eastward of Scott Glacier to be a part of this ice shelf.

Important Bird Area

A 500 ha site () on the ice shelf has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding colony of some 6,500 emperor penguins, based on 2009 satellite imagery.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Birds, Geography, Earth sciences, Weather Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Penguin colonies Ice shelves of Antarctica Bodies of ice of Queen Mary Land Bodies of ice of Wilkes Land

Discovery and naming

Important Bird Area

See also

References

External links