ESA satellite images show ice shelf breaking away

Massive ice chunks are crumbling away from a shelf in the western Antarctic Peninsula, researchers said Wednesday, warning that 1,300 square miles of ice - an area larger than Rhode Island - was in danger of breaking off in coming weeks.

[2 points: 1) The 'Antarctic Peninsula' is the jutting little finger part of Antarctica, and the only place ice is melting: the rest of the (huge) continent is accumulating ice.

2) What's the mechanism for 'ice shelf' (i.e., ice extending/floating beyond the shoreline) break-aways?

A: They keep growing as long as it's cold enough and the shoreline 'hinge' is thick enough to withstand the 'bobbing' of the floating ice mass. Eventually, this bobbing causes the shelf to break off at the hinge, and the larger a chunk is means the longer/colder its been developing.

I.e., 'record setting' break-aways are indications of prior record setting accumulations - that's to say, intra-cycle cold.

As always, 'context is key' {and absent}.]

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