ice shelf

American  

noun

1. an ice sheet projecting into coastal waters so that the end floats.

---

ice shelf British  

noun

1. a thick mass of ice that is permanently attached to the land but projects into and floats on the sea

---

Etymology

Origin of ice shelf

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

This four-stage pattern of structural decline may be a signal for other Antarctic ice shelves that appear to be entering similar phases of weakness.

From Science Daily

FOX REPLIES: Because an ice shelf is already floating, its melting does not directly contribute to sea-level rise.

From Scientific American

The larger gyre brought warm water closer to the glaciers of West Antarctica, which spill out into the ocean as ice shelves and are vulnerable to melting from below.

From Science Magazine

In the new study, Batchelor and her colleagues analyzed former beds of two major ice streams across the Norwegian continental ice shelf dating back to 15,000 to 19,000 years ago.

From Washington Post

The study also highlighted how warming oceans could trigger greater melting of the western Antarctica ice shelf, but it did not examine how this could create a feedback effect, and even more melting.

From BBC