Darwin Glacier (Antarctica)
Encyclopedia
Darwin Glacier is a large glacier
flowing from the polar plateau eastward between the Darwin
and Cook Mountains
to the Ross Ice Shelf
. The glacier was mapped by the British National Antarctic Expedition (1901–04), and the whole area traversed by New Zealand parties of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition
(1956–58). Named in association with the Darwin Mountains (themselves named after Leonard Darwin
).
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
flowing from the polar plateau eastward between the Darwin
Darwin Mountains
The Darwin Mountains is a group of mountains between the Darwin and Hatherton glaciers. Discovered by the British National Antarctic Expedition and named for Major Leonard Darwin, at that time Honorary Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society....
and Cook Mountains
Cook Mountains
The Cook Mountains is a group of mountains bounded by the Mulock and Darwin glaciers in Antarctica. Parts of the group were first viewed from the Ross Ice Shelf by the British National Antarctic Expedition...
to the Ross Ice Shelf
Ross Ice Shelf
The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica . It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than 600 km long, and between 15 and 50 metres high above the water surface...
. The glacier was mapped by the British National Antarctic Expedition (1901–04), and the whole area traversed by New Zealand parties of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition
Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition
The 1955–58 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition was a Commonwealth-sponsored expedition that successfully completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole...
(1956–58). Named in association with the Darwin Mountains (themselves named after Leonard Darwin
Leonard Darwin
Major Leonard Darwin , a son of the English naturalist Charles Darwin, was variously a soldier, politician, economist, eugenicist and mentor of the statistician and evolutionary biologist Ronald Fisher.- Biography :...
).