Commonwealth Glacier is a
glacier
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...
which flows in a southeasterly direction and enters the northern side of
Taylor Valley
Taylor Valley is the southernmost of the three large McMurdo Dry Valleys in the Transantarctic Mountains, Victoria Land, Antarctica, located west of McMurdo Sound at approximately . The valley extends from Taylor Glacier in the west to McMurdo So ...
immediately west of
Mount Coleman, in
Victoria Land
Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf, extending southward from about 70°30'S to 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Antarctic Plateau. I ...
,
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...
. It was charted by the
British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13 (BrAE ), under
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...
, and named by them for the
Commonwealth of Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
, which made a financial grant to the BrAE and contributed two members to the
Western Geological Party which explored this area. The north end of the glacier is bounded by
Flint Ridge.
See also
*
List of glaciers in the Antarctic
*
Glaciology
Glaciology (; ) is the scientific study of glaciers, or more generally ice and natural phenomena that involve ice.
Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology, c ...
Further reading
* Steven A. ARCONE, Karl KREUTZ, '
GPR reflection profiles of Clark and Commonwealth Glaciers, Dry Valleys, Antarctica, Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
* Gayle L. Dana, Robert A. Wharton, Jr, Andrew G. Fountain, '
''
References
*
Glaciers of the Asgard Range
Glaciers of McMurdo Dry Valleys
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