Coordinates: 83°1.5′N, 77°33.5′W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

Before: Ellesmere Island on July 12, 2002.

After: A NASA satellite image taken August 13, 2005 shows the collapse. The newly formed ice island forms only a small part of this picture, being the fragment very close to shore at the centre of the image. The island is ringed in the picture shown in this CBC article.

The Ayles Ice Shelf was one of six major ice shelves in Canada, all located on the northern coast of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. The ice shelf broke off from the coast on August 13, 2005, forming a giant ice island 37 metres (121 ft) thick and measuring around 14 km (9 mi) by 5 km (3 mi) in size (approximately 66 km² or 25.5 mi² in area or 2.6 km³ in volume). The oldest ice in the ice shelf is believed to be over 3,000 years old. The ice shelf was located at ( 83°1.5′N, 77°33.5′W), approximately 800 km (500 mi) south of the North Pole. Image File history File links EllesmereIsland_July_2002_Cropped_-_Ayles. ... Image File history File links EllesmereIsland_July_2002_Cropped_-_Ayles. ... is the 193rd day of the year (194th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Image File history File links Aylesiceshelf. ... Image File history File links Aylesiceshelf. ... The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States federal government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... is the 225th day of the year (226th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ross Ice Shelf An ice shelf is a thick, floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface. ... Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. ... Motto: Nunavut Sannginivut (Inuktitut: Nunavut our strength or Our land our strength) Capital Iqaluit Largest city Iqaluit Official languages Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, English, French Government - Commissioner Ann Meekitjuk Hanson - Premier Paul Okalik (Consensus government) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 1 (Nancy Karetak-Lindell) - Senate seats 1 (Willie Adams) Confederation... is the 225th day of the year (226th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see North Pole (disambiguation). ...

The Ayles Ice Shelf, like the nearby Mount Ayles, was named for the Arctic explorer Adam Ayles, who served under George Nares as the Petty Officer of HMS Alert in the British Arctic Expedition.^[1] A 1986 survey of Canadian ice shelves found that 48 square km (3.3 cubic km) of ice calved from the Milne and Ayles ice shelves between 1959 and 1974.^[2] Mount Ayles is located on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. ... Captain (later Admiral Sir) George Strong Nares. ... The British Arctic Expedition of 1875-1876, led by Sir George Strong Nares, was sent by the British Admiralty to attempt to reach the North Pole via Smith Sound. ...

Breakup

On August 13, 2005, the entire shelf broke clear from the coast of Ellesmere, forming a new ice island. It is believed to be the largest shelf breakup of its kind in Canada in over 30 years.^[3] The event registered on seismometers in northern Canada, and it was verified via satellite imagery. is the 225th day of the year (226th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Seismology (from the Greek seismos = earthquake and logos = word) is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth. ...

Within days of the breakup, the former shelf had drifted over 50 km (31 mi) from Ellesmere Island before freezing into the sea ice. There is concern that when the sea ice melts in the spring, warm temperatures will release the former shelf, making it a hazard for ships and oil platforms in its drift path.^[4]

The breakup was noticed by the Canadian Ice Service at the time that it occurred, but it took a further 16 months to fully reconstruct the breakup sequence from past satellite images captured by MODIS, to determine the climatic conditions during the event, and for the event to garner public attention. The event, which has been linked to global warming, is similar to the 2002 breakup of the Larsen B Ice Shelf in Antarctica. Ash plumes on Kamchatka Peninsula, eastern Russia MODIS (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) is a payload scientific instrument launched into Earth orbit by NASA in 1999 on board the Terra (EOS AM) Satellite, and in 2002 on board the Aqua (EOS PM) satellite. ... Global mean surface temperatures 1850 to 2006 Mean surface temperature anomalies during the period 1995 to 2004 with respect to the average temperatures from 1940 to 1980 Global warming is the observed increase in the average temperature of the Earths atmosphere and oceans in recent decades and the projected... Larsen A and Larsen B iceshelves marked in red The Larsen Ice Shelf () is a long, fringing ice shelf in the northwest part of the Weddell Sea, extending along the east coast of Antarctic Peninsula from Cape Longing to the area just southward of Hearst Island. ...

The speed of the breakup is also remarkable; it took less than an hour. Canada has lost approximately 90% of its ice shelves in the last hundred years.^[5]

References

1. ^ Wairarapa Times-Age newspaper article biography of Adam Ayles
2. ^ Jeffries, Martin O. Ice Island Calvings and Ice Shelf Changes, Milne Ice Shelf and Ayles Ice Shelf, Ellesmere Island, N.W.T.. Arctic 39 (1) (March 1986).
3. ^ Giant ice island breaks off Arctic shelf, Guardian Unlimited
4. ^ Arctic ice shelf collapse poses risk: expert, CBC news
5. ^ Arctic Ice Shelf Broke Off Canadian Island, New York Times

Front page of Guardian Unlimited from August 16, 2005 Guardian Unlimited is a British website owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), a Canadian crown corporation, is the country’s national public radio and television broadcaster. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

External links

Wikinews has related news:

Ice shelf breaks free in Canadian arctic

• 16 image slideshow of satellite and radar images showing the breakup (CBC News, requires Adobe Flash).
• Ayles Ice Shelf breakup images and media resources by Dr. Luke Copland, University of Ottawa
• Ayles Ice Shelf breakup background information by the Canadian Ice Service
• Arctic ice shelf collapse poses risk: expert, CBC news, Thursday, December 28, 2006, 6:39 PM ET
• Huge ice shelf breaks free in Canada's far north by Jeffrey Jones, Reuters, 29 Dec 2006 21:22:06 GMT
• Huge Arctic ice break discovered, BBC news, Friday, 29 December 2006, 22:52 GMT
• Giant Ice Shelf Breaks Off in Canadian Arctic by Richard A. Lovett, National Geographic News, December 29, 2006
• Ice-shelf collapse, climate change, and habitat loss in the Canadian high Arctic F. W. Vincent, J. A. E. Gibson & M. O. Jeffries. Polar Record 37 (201): 133-142 (2001).
• Science team lands on Ice Island, BBC News, Tuesday 22 May 2007