Mawson Glacier
Encyclopedia
Mawson Glacier is a large glacier
on the east coast of Victoria Land
, descending eastward from the polar plateau, to the north of Trinity Nunatak
and the Kirkwood Range
, to enter Ross Sea
, where it forms the Nordenskjold Ice Tongue
. First mapped by the British Antarctic Expedition
(1907–09) and named for Douglas Mawson
, expedition physicist, who later led two other Antarctic expeditions, 1911–14, and 1929-31.
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...
on the east coast 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...
, descending eastward from the polar plateau, to the north of Trinity Nunatak
Trinity Nunatak
Trinity Nunatak is a large nunatak in the stream of the Mawson Glacier, about 5 nautical miles north of the Convoy Range in Victoria Land. Mapped in 1957 by the New Zealand Northern Survey party of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition , which applied the name because of its three summits....
and the Kirkwood Range
Kirkwood Range
Kirkwood Range is a massive coastal range extending north-south between the Fry and Mawson Glaciers. A broad low-level platform on the seaward side of the range is occupied by the Oates Piedmont Glacier...
, to enter 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 Nordenskjold Ice Tongue
Nordenskjold Ice Tongue
Nordenskjold Ice Tongue is a broad glacier tongue extending eastward from the Mawson Glacier into the Ross Sea in Antarctica.Discovered by the Discovery expedition and named for Otto Nordenskiöld. Although this feature is a glacier tongue, the generic term ice tongue is retained in the name to...
. First mapped by the British Antarctic Expedition
Nimrod Expedition
The British Antarctic Expedition 1907–09, otherwise known as the Nimrod Expedition, was the first of three expeditions to the Antarctic led by Ernest Shackleton. Its main target, among a range of geographical and scientific objectives, was to be first to the South Pole...
(1907–09) and named for Douglas Mawson
Douglas Mawson
Sir Douglas Mawson, OBE, FRS, FAA was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer and Academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, Mawson was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.-Early work:He was appointed geologist to an...
, expedition physicist, who later led two other Antarctic expeditions, 1911–14, and 1929-31.