Ice Rises on West Antarctic Ice Sheet
78.9S 45.7W
Antarctica - August 16th, 2009
The parallel lines rising up from the flat surface of this part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet are phenomena known as ice rises.
These are rounded elevations that form where the ice shelf touches elevated, but nevertheless below sea level, areas in the seabed. The ice shelf flows over the seabed elevation, completely covering it with ice, thereby forming an ice rise. Such ice rises are typically 100 to 200 meters high.
Upon opening the full image, the full length of these ice rises can be observed (bottom), as can cracks along the edge of the ice sheet (top).
