The continent of Antarctica is almost completely covered by athick blanket of ice, punctuated only by steep mountain peaksand a handful of dry valleys. Antarctica is also ringed by a permanentice shelf, and that is surrounded by seasonal sea ice.
The image above, acquired by the Moderate-resolution ImagingSpectroradiometer (MODIS) on September 26, 2001, shows many of thetypes of ice found in Antarctica. At the bottom of the image is the iceof the continental glacier, which is up to 4,000 meters thick in theinterior. These thick glaciers are held in place by coastalmountain ranges. Some ice does flow through the mountains, spilling ontothe relatively flat land of the Princess Astrid Coast. Cold air also spillsover the mountains, creating very strong and persistent “katabatic”winds. These scour the snow off the tops of the glaciers, leaving pale bluepatches of bare ice. Above the coastline is the ice shelf, which is much smoother. There, glacial ice actually floats on the sea surface. Beyond that is the chaotic surfaceof the sea ice, which has been solidifying all winter long.
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Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
