Image of the Week - Summer Pools Appear in Antarctica

Landsat recently captured the most widespread meltwater pooling ever recorded on Antarctica's George VI Ice Shelf. Some melting is expected during the Antarctic summer, but the sheer extent of the stunning aqua ponds that have appeared amid the continent's warmest summer on record is remarkable.

Ponds appeared two years earlier in some of the same locations, but most of the ice shelf remained frozen. In 2020, the pools stretched across some 90 miles by January 19th. NASA scientists noted[1] that the image represented the most extensive ponding captured across the nearly 50 year Landsat record.

[1] https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146189/widespread-melt-on-the-…