The remains of an ice shelf that collapsed spectacularly in 2002 may be headed for total disintegration.

The break-up of the Larsen B ice shelf was one of the largest and fastest melting events ever seen by glaciologists. Ala Khazendar of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and his co-workers studied satellite and airborne radar measurements of the heights and flow speeds of glaciers feeding the remaining, southern section of Larsen B. They found that two of the glaciers thinned by 15–20 metres between 2002 and 2011, and one of them increased its flow speed by 55% from 1997 to 2012.

Modelling suggests that when most of Larsen B disintegrated, the remaining glaciers had less ice to buttress them in place, causing them to destabilize.

Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 419, 199–210 (2015)