Neptune 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 ...

on the east coast of

Alexander Island Alexander Island, which is also known as Alexander I Island, Alexander I Land, Alexander Land, Alexander I Archipelago, and Zemlja Alexandra I, is the largest island of Antarctica. It lies in the Bellingshausen Sea west of Palmer Land, Antarc ...

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 ...

, 12 nautical miles (22 km) long and 4 nautical miles (7 km) wide, flowing east into

George VI Sound George VI Sound or Canal Jorge VI or Canal Presidente Sarmiento or Canal Seaver or King George VI Sound or King George the Sixth Sound is a major bay/ fault depression, 300 miles (483 km) long and mainly covered by a permanent ice shelf. It ...

and the

George VI Ice Shelf The George VI Ice Shelf () is an extensive ice shelf that occupies George VI Sound which separates Alexander Island from Palmer Land in Antarctica. The ice shelf extends from Ronne Entrance, at the southwest end of the sound, to Niznik Island ...

to the south of Triton Point. Although Neptune Glacier is not located within the mountain range

Planet Heights Planet Heights () is a series of summits running along an ice-free ridge, extending 24 nautical miles (44 km) in a north-south direction between the southernmost extremity of the LeMay Range and George VI Sound in the east part of Alexander I ...

, the glaciers name derives from the mountain range along with many other nearby glaciers named after planets of the

Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...

. There are also other nearby landforms named in association with these glaciers. The glacier was first sighted from the air by

Lincoln Ellsworth Lincoln Ellsworth (May 12, 1880 – May 26, 1951) was a polar explorer from the United States and a major benefactor of the American Museum of Natural History. Biography Lincoln Ellsworth was born on May 12, 1880, to James Ellsworth and Eva F ...

on November 23, 1935, and roughly mapped from photos obtained on that flight by W.L.G. Joerg. The mouth of the glacier was positioned in 1936 by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE). Named by the

United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (or UK-APC) is a United Kingdom government committee, part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for recommending names of geographical locations within the British Antarctic Territory (BAT) an ...

(UK-APC) for the planet Neptune following a

Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic o ...

(FIDS) survey in 1949. The head of the glacier was mapped from air photos taken by the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition (RARE), 1947–48, by Searle of the FIDS in 1960.

See also