in line with the archimedes principle this ice displaces a volume of sea water whose weight is the same as its own were it to melt the water thus produced would constitute exactly the same volume of sea water as the volume previously occupied by the ice without any consequent change in sea level the melting of sea ice in and of itself does not play any part therefore in rising sea levels antarctica contains million km of ice which represents percent of the worlds water but per cent of fresh water and per cent of ice