World's largest body of floating ice.
It lies at the head of the Ross Sea, which forms an enormous indentation in Antarctica. Its area is estimated to be about the size of France. The great white barrier wall of the shelf's front, first seen in 1841 by British explorer Capt. James C. Ross, rises in places to 200 ft (60 m). The ice shelf has been an important gateway for explorations of the Antarctic interior, including expeditions (191112) to the South Pole by Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott and Richard E. Byrd 's expeditions (192841). It is the site of several permanent research stations.