DCHP-1 Online

ice-shelf

• 1 n. sea ice that is anchored to the shore and extends seaward in a great shelf.

  See also: shore-ice (def. 1)  

  • 1940  . . . the men worked with feverish energy to repair the damage caused by the treacherous ice shelf. . . .
  • 1963  The rolls are the characteristic features of the ice shelves attached to this [Arctic] coast. These shelves, defined as "floating ice sheets rising more than two metres above sea level," differ from the ordinary pack ice on the Arctic Ocean in that they are much thicker, have rolls on their surface, and are attached to the land, and do not drift with the currents.

• 2 n. a shelf of ice anchored to the bank of a river otherwise open.

  See also: bordage  rim-ice  shelf  shore-ice (def. 2)  

  • 1957  They stood on the ice shelf and stared at the water . . . but there was no sign of beaver or of any kind of life.