The Ross Ice Shelf ( ) is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (an area of roughly 487 000 km², and about 800 km across: about the size of Spain). It is several hundred meters thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than 600 km long, and between 15 and 50 meters high above the water surface. 90 percent of the floating ice, however, is below the water surface.
Most of Ross Ice Shelf is located within the Ross Dependency claimed by New Zealand.
The ice shelf was named after Captain James Clark Ross who discovered it on January 28, 1841. It was originally named the Ice Barrier as it prevented sailing further south. Ross mapped the ice front eastward to 160°W.
The Ross Ice Shelf acquired a grimmer reputation in 1912, when it became the final resting place of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott and his party.
