The largest ice shelf in the Arctic, the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf at the northern tip of Ellesmere Island, broke up between 2000 and 2002. The ice shelf was a massive accumulation of ice that had been in place for at least 3000 years, but a three decade long decline in the ice shelf culminated in its fragmentation in to two mains parts. The rupture of the ice shelf caused the drainage of the northern hemisphere’s largest epishelf lake which had been dammed behind it in the 30 kilometer long Disraeli Fiord. The epishelf lake, a body of mostly freshwater from meltwater runoff was trapped behind the ice dam and floating on the denser seawater below. The freshwater lake was 43 meters deep and lay atop 360 meters of saline ocean water and contained a unique biological community consisting of both freshwater and marine species of plankton. The break-up of the ice shelf was attributed to the cumulative effects of long-term climate warming since the 19th century, with other environmental factors such as freeze-thaw cycles, wind, tides, water temperature and flow patterns influencing the precise timing of the break-up.

For more information on the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf Break-up please see the AGU press release, the news media links to the left, and our list of publications

For more information on this event, including satellite imagery of the ice shelf loss, please follow this link to the Canadian Ice Service...Ayles Ice Shelf Breaks in Canadian Arctic and see our list of publications.

A tracking beacon was deployed on the Ayles Ice Island in 2007. Track the ice island drift, and check its current position here...Ayles Ice Island drift buoy