15th Anniversary of the Collapse of Larsen B Ice Shelf - 2017 Proof Sterling Silver with Hologram

The Larsen Ice Shelf is a long, fringing ice shelf consisting of three sectors situated in the northwest Weddell Sea and extending along the Antarctic Peninsular. During the period of 31 January to March 2002, the Larsen B Sector of the shelf partially collapsed and 3,250 km2 of ice, 220m thick, disappeared into the sea in about a week. A study conducted by NASA in 2015 concluded that at the remaining part of the Larsen B sector will collapse by 2020. A shocking fact when you consider that the shelf has remained stable for the past 10,000 years!

It’s not just Larsen Sector B that is in trouble, Larsen A collapsed in 1995 and experts predict that Larsen C could also disintegrate by the end of the century. Larsen C is the fourth largest ice shelf in Antarctica and a rift in the shelf that formed in 2016 now measures over 130km with a width of 91m and depth of 500m. The collapse of this shelf seems a certainty for 2017 and when it does it will form one of the largest icebergs ever recorded with an area of around 5000km2. It is events like this that highlight the fragility of the natural world and encourage us to minimise our impact on Earth.