Markham Ice Shelf Explained

The Markham Ice Shelf was one of five^[1] major ice shelves in Canada, all on the north coast of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. The ice shelf broke off from the coast in early August 2008, becoming adrift in the Arctic Ocean. The 4,500-year-old ice shelf was then 19mi2 in size, nearly the size of Manhattan,^[2] and approximately ten stories tall.^[3] On September 3, 2008, CNN quoted Derek Mueller, of Trent University in Ontario, Canada as saying to the Associated Press:

According to images from NASA, the ice shelf completely disintegrated over a period of 6 days in August 2008.^[4] By 2015, it had completely melted.^{[5] [6] [7]}

The ice shelf was named for Albert Hastings Markham, a British Arctic explorer.

Further reading

• Vincent, W. F., Mueller, D. R., & Bonilla, S. (2004). Ecosystems on ice: the microbial ecology of Markham Ice Shelf in the high Arctic. CRYOBIOLOGY. 48 (2), 103–112. OCLC 195074993

Notes and References

1. News: David . Ljunggren . Massive Canada Arctic ice shelf breaks away . newsdaily.com . Reuters . September 2, 2008 . September 3, 2008.
2. Web site: 19-square-mile ice sheet breaks loose in Canada . September 3, 2008 . Noronha . Charmaine . September 3, 2008 . Associated Press . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080907035614/http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jO9eK94TY12mQJSxlF69I9q3L4YwD92VI3N80 . September 7, 2008 .
3. Web site: Canadian Arctic Ice Sheet Nearly Size of Manhattan Breaks Off . September 7, 2008 . Satariano . Adam . September 3, 2008 . Bloomberg L.P..
4. Web site: Rapid Retreat: Ice Shelf Loss along Canada’s Ellesmere Coast. September 5, 2008. earthobservatory.nasa.gov. en. November 14, 2019.
5. Area change of glaciers across Northern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, between ~1999 and ~2015. Journal of Glaciology . Adrienne . White . Luke . Copland. 64. 246. 609–623. 10.1017/jog.2018.49.
6. Web site: Canadian Arctic nearly loses entire ice shelf . Noronha . Charmaine . September 30, 2011. phys.org. en-us. November 14, 2019.
7. Web site: Rapid Retreat: Ice Shelf Loss along Canada’s Ellesmere Coast. September 5, 2008. earthobservatory.nasa.gov. en. November 14, 2019.