Larsen Ice Shelf
Larsen Ice Shelf
one of the largest ice shelves in Antarctica. The Larsen Ice Shelf forms the eastern ice bank of the Antarctic Peninsula for a distance of more than 800 km (between 64.5° and 72.5° S lat.). Its greatest width is about 200 km; its area is about 86,000 sq km. On the east it is blockaded year-round by the drifting ice of the Weddell Sea. The Argentine Teniente Matienzo scientific station has been in operation in the northern part of the Larsen Ice Shelf since 1961. The shelf was named in honor of its discoverer (1893), C. Larsen.