Cook Ice Shelf is an

ice shelf An ice shelf is a large platform of glacial ice floating on the ocean, fed by one or multiple tributary glaciers. Ice shelves form along coastlines where the ice thickness is insufficient to displace the more dense surrounding ocean water. T ...

about wide, occupying a deep recession of the coastline between Cape Freshfield and

Cape Hudson Mawson Peninsula () is a high (), narrow, ice-covered peninsula on the George V Coast, on the west side of the Slava Ice Shelf, Antarctica, terminating in Cape Hudson. It extends for over in a northwesterly direction. The peninsula was photographe ...

, to the east of

Deakin Bay Deakin Bay () is a wide, open bay on the coast between Horn Bluff and Cape Freshfield. The bay was roughly delineated by the Far Eastern Party of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911–1914) under Sir Douglas Mawson, who named it for Alfred ...

. This bay was discovered by the

US Exploring Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

in 1840, and referred to by Wilkes as Disappointment Bay. This indentation was called Cook Bay by the

Australasian Antarctic Expedition The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was a 1911–1914 expedition headed by Douglas Mawson that explored the largely uncharted Antarctic coast due south of Australia. Mawson had been inspired to lead his own venture by his experiences on Ernest ...

, 1911–14, under

Douglas Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was a British-born Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader during ...

, who named it for

Joseph Cook Sir Joseph Cook (7 December 1860 – 30 July 1947) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the sixth Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1913 to 1914. He held office as the leader of the Fusion L ...

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

in 1914. The generic term has been amended, as the bay is permanently filled by an ice shelf. Scientists studying the

effects of global warming Effects of climate change are well documented and growing for Earth's natural environment and human societies. Changes to the climate system include an overall warming trend, changes to precipitation patterns, and more extreme weather. As ...

have proposed that sea water encroachment in the area could destabilize a significant portion of the

East Antarctic Ice Sheet The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) lies between 45th meridian west, 45° west and 168th meridian east, 168° east longitudinally. It was first formed around 34 million years ago, and it is the largest ice sheet on the entire planet, with far gre ...

References

* Ice shelves of Antarctica Bodies of ice of George V Land {{GeorgeVLand-geo-stub