Mariner Glacier is a major glacier

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...

 over 100 km (62 mi) long, descending southeast from the plateau of Victoria Land

Victoria Land

Victoria Land is a region of Antarctica bounded on the east by the Ross Ice Shelf and the Ross Sea and on the west by Oates Land and Wilkes Land. It was discovered by Captain James Clark Ross in January 1841 and named after the UK's Queen Victoria...

, between Mountaineer Range

Mountaineer Range

Mountaineer Range is the range of mountains lying between the Mariner and Aviator Glaciers in Victoria Land, Antarctica. The seaward parts of the range were first viewed by Ross in 1841, and subsequently by several British and later American expeditions. The precise mapping of its overall features...

 and Malta Plateau

Malta Plateau

Malta Plateau is an ice-covered plateau of about 25 nautical miles extent in the Victory Mountains, Victoria Land. The plateau is irregular in shape and is bounded on the south and west by Mariner Glacier, on the north by tributaries to Trafalgar Glacier, and on the east by tributaries to...

, and terminating at Lady Newnes Bay

Lady Newnes Bay

Lady Newnes Bay is a bay about 60 mi long in the western Ross Sea, extending along the coast of Victoria Land from Cape Sibbald to Coulman Island. Discovered by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1898–1900, led by Carstens Borchgrevink. He named it for Lady Newnes, whose husband, Sir George...

, Ross Sea

Ross Sea

The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land.-Description:The Ross Sea was discovered by James Ross in 1841. In the west of the Ross Sea is Ross Island with the Mt. Erebus volcano, in the east Roosevelt Island. The southern part is covered...

, where it forms the floating Mariner Glacier Tongue. Its lower reaches and entrance to its valley were reconnoitered in December 1958 by Captain John Cadwalader

John Cadwalader

John Cadwalader is the name of:*John Cadwalader , known as "General John Cadwalader", Pennsylvanian merchant, general in the Revolutionary War...

, US Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

, and two members of New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition

New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition

The New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition describes a series of scientific explorations of the continent Antarctica. The expeditions were notably active in 1957-58 and again in 1958-59. The 1957-58 expedition went to the Ross Dependency and named the Borchgrevink Glacier...

 (NZGSAE), in a flight from the icebreakers USS Glacier

USS Glacier (AGB-4)

USS Glacier is the historic Glacier class icebreaker which served in the first through fifteenth Operation Deep Freeze expeditions. Glacier was first icebreaker to make her way through the frozen Bellingshausen Sea, and most of the topography in the area is named for her crewmembers...

 and USS Staten Island

USCGC Staten Island (WAGB-278)

USCGC Staten Island was a United States Coast Guard . Laid down on 9 June 1942 and launched on 28 December 1942, the ship was commissioned on 26 February 1944, and almost immediately afterward transferred to the Soviet Union, under the Lend Lease program, under the name Severny Veter, which...

 which were lying close off the south end of Coulman Island

Coulman Island

Coulman Island is an ice-covered island, composed of several connected shield volcanos in the Ross Sea off Antarctica. The Coulman caldera, wide and deep, can be found on the south end of the island. Emperor penguins inhabit this island. Coulman Island lies within the boundaries of Ross...

, in an attempt to land expedition members on the mainland. Named by NZGSAE, 1958–59, as a tribute to the work of mariners in Antarctic research and exploration.