Antarctica Ice: Spinning Yarn

on a Freshwater Storage Supply

The Antarctica ice cap contains about 70% of the planet’s fresh water. The continental Antarctica ice sheet contains approximately 7 million cubic miles (30 million cu km) of ice, representing about 90% of the world's total. Ice flowing off of the continent creates several floating ice shelves 

where the flowing ice meets the ocean. Marion hopes to be spinning yarn on one of these floes.

Antarctica Ice shelves act to hold back glaciers from the sea and keep warmer marine air at a distance from the glaciers.

Antarctica Ice streams are vast rivers of ice that flow up to 100 times faster than the ice they channel through, with speeds up to 3000 feet per year. They are the most energetic parts of the Antarctica ice sheet, and scientists believe that they are quite susceptible to environmental change. Ice streams also transport most of the snow that falls on the continent's interior and dump it into the ocean.

Antarctica Ice shelves produce the largest icebergs (called tabular as they are table-like, flat, on top) as the ice is gently fed onto the surface of the sea before eventually breaking off and becoming free floating.