The Nimitz Glacier is an Antarctic glacier, long and wide, draining the area about west of the

Vinson Massif Vinson Massif () is a large mountain massif in Antarctica that is long and wide and lies within the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. It overlooks the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. The massif is located ...

and flowing southeast between the

Sentinel Range The Sentinel Range is a major mountain range situated northward of Minnesota Glacier and forming the northern half of the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica. The range trends NNW-SSE for about and is 24 to 48 km (15 to 30 mi) wide. Ma ...

and Bastien Range to enter

Minnesota Glacier Minnesota Glacier () is a broad glacier, about long and wide, flowing east through the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica, separating the Sentinel Range and the Heritage Range. It is nourished by ice from the plateau west of the mountains an ...

, in the central

Ellsworth Mountains The Ellsworth Mountains are the highest mountain ranges in Antarctica, forming a long and wide chain of mountains in a north to south configuration on the western margin of the Ronne Ice Shelf in Marie Byrd Land. They are bisected by Minnesota ...

. Discovered by

USN The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

Squadron

VX-6 Air Development Squadron Six (VX-6 or AIRDEVRON SIX, commonly referred to by its nickname, "puckered penguins") was a United States Navy Air Development Squadron based at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Established at Naval Air Station Patuxent River ...

on photographic flights of December 14-December 15, 1959, and mapped by

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

from these photos. Named by

US-ACAN The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (ACAN or US-ACAN) is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending commemorative names for features in Antarctica. History The committee was established ...

for Fleet Admiral

Chester Nimitz Chester William Nimitz (; February 24, 1885 – February 20, 1966) was a fleet admiral in the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II as Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, and Commander in C ...

, USN, who as Chief of Naval Operations at the time of

Operation Highjump Operation HIGHJUMP, officially titled The United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946–1947, (also called Task Force 68), was a United States Navy (USN) operation to establish the Antarctic research base Little America IV. The opera ...

, 1947–1948, made possible that unprecedentedly large and complex Antarctic expedition.

Tributary glaciers

Karasura Glacier Karasura Glacier ( bg, ледник Карасура, lednik Karasura, ) is the long and wide glacier on the northeast side of Bastien Range in Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. It drains the north slopes of Bergison Peak and the east slope ...

Branscomb Glacier The Branscomb Glacier () is an Antarctic glacier, long, flowing west from the north-west side of Vinson Massif (the highest point in Antarctica) into Nimitz Glacier, in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. Its upper course receives i ...

Cairns Glacier Cairns Glacier () is a glacier on the west slope of Vinson Massif, Sentinel Range in Antarctica, situated between Branscomb Glacier and Tulaczyk Glacier. It flows along the northwest side of Brichebor Peak southwestwards, and leaving the ran ...

Tulaczyk Glacier Tulaczyk Glacier () is a steep valley glacier draining the west slope of Vinson Massif southwest of Príncipe de Asturias Peak, and descending between Cairns Glacier and Zapol Glacier in the Sentinel Range, Antarctica. The glacier flows southw ...

Zapol Glacier Zapol Glacier () is a steep valley glacier draining the west slope of Vinson Massif south of Silverstein Peak and Príncipe de Asturias Peak, and descending between Tulaczyk Glacier and Donnellan Glacier in the Sentinel Range, Antarctica. The ...

Donnellan Glacier Donnellan Glacier () is a steep valley glacier fed by highland ice adjacent to Opalchenie Peak and Fukushima Peak on Vinson Plateau, the summit plateau of Vinson Massif, in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. The glac ...

Gildea Glacier Gildea Glacier is a glacier long and wide flowing southwestward from Craddock Massif between Mount Slaughter and Mount Atkinson into Nimitz Glacier, in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. The upper portion of the glac ...

Bender Glacier Bender Glacier () is a glacier that flows from Mount Atkinson and Mount Craddock southwards between Chaplin Peak and Krusha Peak, and joins Nimitz Glacier just south of Gilbert Spur in the southern Sentinel Range, Ellsworth Mountains in Antarc ...

Sirma Glacier Sirma Glacier ( bg, ледник Сирма, lednik Sirma, ) is the long and wide glacier on the west side of Owen Ridge in southern Sentinel Range, Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica, situated south of Bolgrad Glacier, and flowing west-south ...

Maps

Vinson Massif.
Scale 1:250 000 topographic map. Reston, Virginia: US Geological Survey, 1988. * D. Gildea and C. Rada. Vinson Massif and the Sentinel Range. Scale 1:50 000 topographic map. Omega Foundation, 2007.
Antarctic Digital Database (ADD).
Scale 1:250000 topographic map of Antarctica. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Since 1993, regularly updated.

References

Glaciers of Ellsworth Land Ellsworth Mountains {{EllsworthLand-glacier-stub

Tributary glaciers

See also

Maps

References