West Antarctic Ice Sheet
ice sheet, Antarctica
Also known as: WAIS
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ice formations
- In glacier: West Antarctica
The part of the main continent lying south of the Americas, between longitudes 45° W and 165° E, is characterized by irregular bedrock and ice-surface topography and numerous nunataks and deep troughs. Two large ice shelves occur in West Antarctica: the Filchner-Ronne Ice…
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Ocean Drilling Program results
- In Antarctica: The surrounding seas
…Cenozoic time and that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet did not form until about 10 million to 5 million years ago, which is much later than inferred from evidence on the continent itself. Drilling of the Kerguelen Plateau near the Amery Ice Shelf (1987–88) entailed the study of the rifting…
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