Amundsen Glacier () is a major

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

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#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

, about 7 to 11 km (4 to 6 nmi) wide and 150 km (80 nmi) long, originating on the

polar plateau The Antarctic Plateau, Polar Plateau or King Haakon VII Plateau is a large area of East Antarctica which extends over a diameter of about , and includes the region of the geographic South Pole and the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. This h ...

where it drains the area to the south and west of Nilsen Plateau, and descending through the

Queen Maud Mountains The Queen Maud Mountains are a major group of mountains, ranges and subordinate features of the Transantarctic Mountains, lying between the Beardmore and Reedy Glaciers and including the area from the head of the Ross Ice Shelf to the Antarctic P ...

to enter the

Ross Ice Shelf The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (, an area of roughly and about across: about the size of France). It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than long, and between hi ...

just west of the MacDonald

Nunatak A nunatak (from Inuit ''nunataq'') is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They are also called glacial islands. Examples are natural pyramidal peaks. ...

s. The tributary

Blackwall Glacier Blackwall Glacier () is a tributary glacier, long, which drains a portion of the west slope of Nilsen Plateau. It flows northwest along the northeast side of Hansen Spur to join Amundsen Glacier. The name was used by both the 1963–64 and 1970� ...

flows northwest along the northeast side of

Hansen Spur Hansen Spur () is a spur, long, descending from the northwest side of Nilsen Plateau, in the Queen Maud Mountains of Antarctica, and terminating at the edge of Amundsen Glacier just east of the Olsen Crags. It was mapped by the United States Geolo ...

to join Amundsen Glacier. It was discovered by

Rear Admiral Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, p ...

on the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

flight in November 1929. The name was proposed for

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Amundsen bega ...

by Laurence Gould, leader of the Byrd AE geological party which sledged past the mouth of the glacier in December 1929.

References

* Glaciers of Amundsen Coast Queen Maud Mountains {{RossDependency-glacier-stub

See also

References