The calving of A-38 off Ronne ice shelf

The Filchner-Ronne ice shelf is in Antarctica bordering the Weddell Sea.

The seaward side of the Filchner-Ronne ice sheet is divided into Eastern (Filcher) and the larger Western (Ronne) sections by Berkner Island. The whole ice shelf covers some 430,000 km², making it the second largest ice shelf in Antarctica, after the Ross Ice Shelf. It grows perpetually due to a flow of inland ice sheets. From time to time, when the shearing stresses exceed the strength of the ice, cracks form and large parts of the ice sheet separate from the ice shelf and continue as icebergs. This is known as "calving".

In October 1998, the iceberg A-38 broke off the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf. It had a size of roughly 150 times 50 km and was thus larger than Delaware. It later broke up into three parts.

The ice of the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf can be as thick as 600 m; the water below is about 1400 m deep at the deepest point.

The Filchner-Ronne ice shelf is also known as the Ronne-Filchner ice shelf but the form Filchner-Ronne appears to be more popular. The ice shelf is named after Wilhelm Filchner and Edith Ronne.

See also: Larsen Ice Shelf

External links

• http://nsidc.org/data/iceshelves_images/ronne_w_loc.html - Satellite image/map of Ronne (W)
• http://nsidc.org/data/iceshelves_images/ronne_e_loc.html - Filchner (E)