Using a shapefile to mask a map

I have a bunch of Geotiff files (of Antarctica) and a shapefile of a region (an ice shelf) that I need to extract. How do I use the shapefile as a mask to extract the area of interest from the Geotiff without losing any of the geographic information? I have access to the mapping toolbox. Thanks!

Answer 1

[Chad Greene]

Some of the tools in the Bedmap2 Toolbox for Matlab might help. Check the pdf documentation--one of the examples uses an outline of Getz Ice Shelf to easily generate a histogram of basal elevations.