Antarctic ice shelf collapse. Satellite images showing the collapse of the Larsen B ice shelf, Antarctica, into the Weddell Sea in Summer 2002. Top left was taken on 31st January and shows dark blue melt ponds in the ice shelf. Top right, taken on 17th February, shows that an area of ice amounting to 800 square kilometres has broken off from the shelf, leaving icebergs in the sea. The melt ponds are draining through new cracks within the shelf. Bottom left, taken on 23rd February, shows further collapse of the shelf. Bottom right, taken on 5th March, shows thousands of icebergs and a large area (light blue) of finely divided bergy bits (small icebergs). Images taken by the MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite.