East Antarctic Ice Sheet

E654826

The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is the massive, ancient ice mass covering most of East Antarctica, containing the majority of the continent’s ice and a significant portion of the world’s freshwater.

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Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf ice sheet
age largely more than 30 million years
bedTopography largely above sea level but with some subglacial basins below sea level
beganForming Eocene–Oligocene transition NERFINISHED
borderedBy Transantarctic Mountains NERFINISHED
climate extremely cold and dry
contains majority of Antarctic ice volume
significant portion of global freshwater
containsFeature Aurora Subglacial Basin NERFINISHED
Dome A NERFINISHED
Dome C NERFINISHED
Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains NERFINISHED
Recovery Subglacial Basin NERFINISHED
Vostok Subglacial Lake NERFINISHED
Wilkes Subglacial Basin NERFINISHED
continent Antarctica
contributesTo global sea-level change
covers most of East Antarctica
drainageThrough ice streams
outlet glaciers
drainsTo Southern Ocean NERFINISHED
governedBy Antarctic Treaty System
hasApproximateArea about 10 million square kilometers
hasApproximateAverageThickness about 2,000 meters
hasApproximateMaximumThickness over 4,000 meters
hasApproximateVolume about 26 million cubic kilometers
hasHighestPoint Dome A NERFINISHED
hasResearchStationsOn Concordia Station NERFINISHED
Vostok Station NERFINISHED
highestPointElevation over 4,000 meters above sea level
influences Southern Hemisphere climate system
locatedIn East Antarctica NERFINISHED
monitoredBy gravimetry missions such as GRACE
ice-penetrating radar surveys
satellite altimetry
partOf Antarctic Ice Sheet NERFINISHED
potentialSeaLevelRiseIfMelted about 50–53 meters
reflectivity high albedo
restOn East Antarctic craton NERFINISHED
separatedFrom West Antarctic Ice Sheet NERFINISHED
stability relatively stable compared to West Antarctic Ice Sheet
studiedBy glaciologists
surfaceElevation mostly above sea level
surfaceFeatures blue-ice areas
sastrugi
surfaceMassBalance generally positive or near balance in interior
terminatesIn grounded ice margins
ice shelves
vulnerableRegions marine-based sectors such as Wilkes Subglacial Basin margins

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Transantarctic Mountains formsBoundaryOf East Antarctic Ice Sheet
Last Glacial Maximum hasMajorIceSheet East Antarctic Ice Sheet
Antarctic Ice Sheet hasPart East Antarctic Ice Sheet