Landsat — Ice in Antarctica

The eastern coast of Antarctica has lost most of the Glenzer and Conger ice shelves. In the process, it gained what is likely an island. If confirmed, the unnamed island would be one in a series of islands exposed in recent years as portions of the floating glacial ice hugging the continent’s coast have disintegrated.

The candidate island is visible in this triptych of images acquired by Landsat satellites between 1989 and 2022. The images are a combination of shortwave infrared and visible light, and were adjusted for consistency in brightness and color. Notice how the island has maintained the same shape, even after shelf ice detached from it, and as sea ice around it waxed and waned. That round white mound has not budged, even after large icebergs likely smashed into it following the rapid collapse of the Glenzer and Conger ice shelves this year.