Satellite images show that a large hunk of Antarctica's Wilkins Ice Shelf has started to collapse in a fast-warming region of the continent, scientists said on Tuesday.

The area of collapse measured about 415 square km of the Wilkins Ice Shelf, according to satellite imagery from the University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The Wilkins Ice Shelf is a broad sheet of permanent floating ice that spans about 13,000 square km and is located on the southwest Antarctic Peninsula about 1,600 km south of South America.