南極の ice shelf the size of フラン suddenly JUMPS twice a day - and scientists 警告する it could 誘発する／引き起こす a 破滅的な icequake
- The Ross Ice Shelf is a 壇・綱領・公約 of ice 手段ing nearly 200,000 square miles
- It?moves suddenly like the plate tectonics that 原因（となる） 地震s, 専門家s say
Antarctica's biggest ice shelf is on the move and could 誘発する／引き起こす icequakes, a new 熟考する／考慮する 警告するs.
研究員s 設立する that the?Ross Ice Shelf ? a 壇・綱領・公約 of ice 手段ing nearly 200,000 square miles, just shy of the size of フラン ? jumps?suddenly twice a day.?
The sudden 'slip' is 原因（となる）d by two sections of ice moving against each other, a bit like the movement of plate tectonics that 原因（となる） 地震s.?
The 現象, identified for the first time in a new 熟考する／考慮する, could create fractures in the ice shelf, which would make it more 傾向がある to 落ちるing apart.?
It could also 誘発する／引き起こす 'icequakes' ? seismic events that can be dangerous for nearby animals or explorers.?
Ice 棚上げにするs are 永久の floating sheets of ice that connect to a landmass. Pictured is the Ross Ice Shelf, the largest ice shelf of Antarctica
研究員s 熟考する／考慮するd data from 'seismometers' - little 装置s that 記録，記録的な／記録する ground noises and movement -?駅／配置するd around Antarctica. This image shows seismic 記録，記録的な／記録するs 原因（となる）d by ice in Antarctica in December 2014
The 熟考する／考慮する was led by Professor Doug Wiens, a geophysicist at?Washington University in St. Louis,?Missouri and published in?Geophysical 研究 Letters.
'We 設立する that the whole shelf suddenly moves about 6 to 8 センチメートルs (or 3 インチs) once or twice a day,' he said.?
'These sudden movements could 潜在的に play a 役割 in 誘発する／引き起こすing icequakes and fractures in the ice shelf.'?
Ice 棚上げにするs are large floating 壇・綱領・公約s of ice that connect to a landmass, such as Antarctica, although they're also 設立する in other polar 場所s such as Greenland.?
These 棚上げにするs 行為／法令／行動する as a 保護の 衝撃を和らげるもの for the 本土／大陸 ice, keeping the whole 南極の Ice Sheet from flowing into the ocean, which would 劇的な raise 全世界の sea levels.?
So fractures or any 肉親，親類d of 弱めるing in the ice 棚上げにするs could 潜在的に 原因（となる） it to 崩壊する in the next few １０年間s, with serious 関わりあい／含蓄s for 沿岸の 特記する／引用するs.
There are about 300 ice 棚上げにするs dotted around Antarctica and together they cover about three ４半期/4分の1s of the 南極の coastline.?
Professor Wiens and 同僚s 焦点（を合わせる）d on the?Ross Ice Shelf, which, at around the size of フラン, is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica.?
An image of Antarctica differentiating its landmass (dark grey), ice 棚上げにするs (light grey) and sea ice (white). Ross Ice Shelf,?the largest ice shelf of Antarctica, is in the south
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They 熟考する／考慮するd data from 'seismometers' that they 駅／配置するd around the continent in 2014 ? little 装置s that 記録，記録的な／記録する?ground noises and movement.?
Scientists say there's a 急速な／放蕩な-moving river or 'conveyor belt' of ice called the Whillans Ice Stream that's 注ぐing into?the Ross Ice Shelf.?
The movement of the Ross Ice Shelf is 誘発する／引き起こすd by a sudden movement of the Whillans Ice Stream known as a 'slip event', akin to?the movement of plate tectonics that 原因（となる） 地震s.?
The 研究員s discovered?there's a large section of Whillans Ice Stream 手段ing 60 miles by 60 miles that remains 静止している, while the 残り／休憩（する） of the ice stream creeps 今後 ? a junction 述べるd as a 'sticky 位置／汚点／見つけ出す'.?
Then, once or twice per day, the large section lurches 今後 against the Ross Ice Shelf.
It can move as much as 16 インチs (40cm) in a few minutes, but if a human was there they would not be able to tell it was happening.
'One would not （悪事，秘密などを）発見する the movement just by feeling it,' Professor Wiens said.?
'The movement occurs over a time period of several minutes, so it is not perceptible without instrumentation.'
The Ross Ice Shelf (pictured) is a floating lip of ice that 延長するs out over the ocean. Scientists are 利益／興味d in interactions between ice 棚上げにするs and ice streams in part because they are 関心d about the 安定 of Antarctica’s ice 棚上げにするs in a warming world
This image of the Ross Ice Shelf 地域 最高潮の場面s seismic 駅／配置するs shown as blue circles. The 場所s of Whillans Ice Stream slip 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs are shown as red circles
However, the 研究員s do not think that this slip event and others like it are 直接／まっすぐに 関係のある to human-原因（となる）d 全世界の warming.
One theory is that they are 原因（となる）d by loss of water in the bed of the Whillans Ice Stream, making it more 'sticky'.?
However, interactions between ice 棚上げにするs and ice streams can still 明らかにする／漏らす more about the 安定 of Antarctica’s ice 棚上げにするs in a warming world.?
'At this point, icequakes and fractures are just part of the normal life of the ice shelf,' Professor Wiens said.?
'There is a worry that the Ross Ice Shelf will someday 崩壊する, since other smaller and thinner ice 棚上げにするs have done so.'?
