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[[File:Getz Ice Shelf.png|thumb|Edge of the Getz Ice Shelf]] | [[File:Getz Ice Shelf.png|thumb|Edge of the Getz Ice Shelf]] | ||
The '''Getz Ice Shelf''' is the largest [[Antarctica|Antarctic]] [[ice-shelf|ice shelf]] along the southeast coastline of [[Westarctica]], over 300 miles long and from 20-60 miles wide, bordering the [[Hobbs Coast|Hobbs]] and [[Bakutis Coast|Bakutis]] Coasts | The '''Getz Ice Shelf''' is the largest [[Antarctica|Antarctic]] [[ice-shelf|ice shelf]] along the southeast coastline of [[Westarctica]], over 300 miles long and from 20-60 miles wide, bordering the [[Hobbs Coast|Hobbs]] and [[Bakutis Coast|Bakutis]] Coasts between the [[McDonald Heights]] and the [[Martin Peninsula]]. Several large islands are partially or wholly embedded in the ice shelf, pinning the calving front. | ||
Summer temperature and salinity measurements from 1994 to 2010 show the shelf is subject to more changeable oceanic forcing than other Antarctic shelves. Beneath cold surface waters, the thermoclin was ∼200 m shallower in 2007 than in 2000, indicative of shifting access of deep water to the continental shelf and ice shelf base. The calculated area-average basal melt rates was between 1.1 and 4.1 m of ice per year, making Getz the largest source of meltwater to the Southern Ocean. | Summer temperature and salinity measurements from 1994 to 2010 show the shelf is subject to more changeable oceanic forcing than other Antarctic shelves. Beneath cold surface waters, the thermoclin was ∼200 m shallower in 2007 than in 2000, indicative of shifting access of deep water to the continental shelf and ice shelf base. The calculated area-average basal melt rates was between 1.1 and 4.1 m of ice per year, making Getz the largest source of meltwater to the [[Southern Ocean]]. | ||
==Discovery and name== | ==Discovery and name== | ||
The ice shelf west of [[Siple Island]] was discovered by the United States Antarctic Service in December 1940. | The ice shelf west of [[Siple Island]] was discovered by the United States [[Antarctica|Antarctic]] Service in December 1940. | ||
It was named by the USAS (1939–41) for | It was named by the USAS (1939–41) for George F. Getz who helped furnish the seaplane for the expedition. | ||
[[Category:Geography of Westarctica]] | [[Category:Geography of Westarctica]] | ||
[[Category:Ice Shelves]] | [[Category:Ice Shelves]] |