Cosgrove Ice Shelf

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Map showing Ferrero Bay and the Cosgrove Ice Shelf

The Cosgrove Ice Shelf is a 35-mile (56 km) long by 25-mile (40 km) wide ice shelf, occupying the inner (east) part of the embayment between the King Peninsula and the Canisteo Peninsula in Westarctica's Ferrero Bay.

Discovery and name

It was mapped from air photos taken by U.S. Navy Operation Highjump, 1946–47, and named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Lieutenant Jerome R. Cosgrove, U.S. Navy Reserve, assistant communications officer on the staff of the Commander, U.S. Navy Support Force, Antarctica, during U.S. Navy Operation Deep Freeze, 1967 and 1968.

Geography

Since the first detailed measurements were conducted in 1996, the Cosgrove Ice Shelf has continually retreated due to the effect of deep circumpolar water eroding the shelf from below. This retreat has opened Ferrero Bay and revealed numerous islands, which are named as they are discovered in open water.

Currently, two island groups exist within Ferrero Bay that were previously covered by ice: