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Wilkins Ice Shelf Research Paper

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Imagine being on a deserted island with nothing and nobody around. Now, imagine that desert island is a giant iceberg that disconnects from its main land and starts floating into the open ocean. Most would suddenly think, the deserted island is not so bad after all. This scenario sounds like a great Disney movie but a horror film in for reality. A gigantic ice shelf called Wilkins ice shelf, located on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, disconnected and started a journey into the open ocean. This ice shelf quickly broke off but where will the currents of the ocean take it after six months of floating in the open water.
Scientists have stated that global warming is playing a large role in why ice shelfs such as Wilkens ice shelf are breaking of the Antarctic (British Antarctic Survey 2008). The Wilkens was one of the most current ice shelves that has detached from the Antarctic Peninsula in early 2008. In fact, six ice shelves completely collapsed in the last 30 years, due to warming (2008). According to the British Antarctic Survey, “We believe the Wilkins has been in place for at least a few hundred years. But warm air and exposure to ocean waves are causing a break-up” (2008). The Wilkins shelf is gigantic in size “At roughly 70.5 degrees south …show more content…

Ocean currents play a huge effect on where and what happens to things like icebergs floating in the ocean. Being that the Artic Circumpolar Current, which is also known as the West Wind Drift is the current that flows near where the iceberg broke off, the iceberg probably would be pulled into the eastward flow. This current is unique because it is the only current that goes completely around the globe without interruption, and stays consistent in its path (Sverdrup, Keith, Raphael Kudela, 2013). The iceberg eventually would be effected by the ocean water and break apart into much smaller

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