THAT THE AREA of the West Antarctic ice sheet drained by the Ross ice streams is in less danger of imminent collapse is good news.
南极洲西部冰原被罗斯冰流带走的面积，还没有到达立即崩解的地步，这可是一项好消息；By the time the Marsh joins the immense Nimrod Glacier, some 35 miles from our camp, the ice is on a rapid charge to the Ross Sea Ice Shelf.
待马什冰川汇合入庞大的尼姆罗德冰川后（距我们的营地约35英里处），冰层快速冲向罗斯冰架。The rest of the Wilkins ice shelf, which is about the size of Connecticut, is holding on by a narrow beam of thin ice.
威尔金斯冰架的面积相当于康涅狄格州，其所剩的部分由一个狭窄的薄冰梁柱支撑。The rest of the Wilkins Ice Shelf, which totals about 14, 500 square kilometers, is holding on by a narrow beam of thin ice.
总面积约在14500平方公里的威尔金斯冰架的其他部分正在支撑着一条狭长的薄冰。Change at Wilkins has come fast, often taking scientists by surprise with the speed of the break-up.
威尔金斯冰架的变化发生得很快，经常使科学家们为它的破碎速率之快而感到惊讶。Several huge icebergs broke off from Antarctica's Ross ice shelf and the Ronne ice shelf in 2000 and are now drifting away from Antarctica.
在2000年，几个巨大的冰山从南极洲的罗斯冰架和朗尼冰架上脱落，现在正漂离南极洲。The lakes are under moving sections of ice, called ice streams, that flow into the Ross Ice Shelf.
这些湖泊在冰流的下面，冰流是移动的冰层，流向“罗斯冰架”。IN 2008 part of the Wilkins ice shelf on the edge of the Antarctic peninsular suddenly disintegrated.
在2008年，位于南极半岛边缘的部分威尔金斯冰架突然崩裂了。Wilkins has almost no pent-up glaciers behind it, but ice shelves further south hold back vast volumes of ice.
威尔金斯冰架的背后几乎没有压抑冰川，但是再往南的冰架却挡住了大量的冰。