Rennick Glacier is broad
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 ...
, nearly long, which is one of the largest in
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 contine ...
. It rises on the polar plateau westward of
Mesa Range
The Mesa Range () is a range of flat-topped mesas comprising the Sheehan, Pain, Tobin and Gair Mesas, situated at the head of the Rennick Glacier in Victoria Land, Antarctica. it was given this descriptive name by the northern party of the New ...
and is wide, narrowing to near the coast. It takes its name from
Rennick Bay where the glacier reaches the sea. The seaward part of the glacier was photographed by U.S. Navy (USN)
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 ...
, 1946–47. The upper reaches of the Rennick Glacier were discovered and explored by the U.S. Victoria Land Traverse (VLT) in February 1960, and the first ascent made of
Welcome Mountain by John Weihaupt, Alfred Stuart, Claude Lorius and Arnold Heine of the VLT party. On February 10, 1960,
Lieutenant Commander Robert L. Dale, pilot of U.S. Navy (USN) 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, ...
, evacuated the VLT from 7238S, 16132E, on this glacier, and then conducted an aerial photographic reconnaissance to Rennick Bay on the coast before returning the VLT team to
McMurdo Station
McMurdo Station is a United States Antarctic research station on the south tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the Unit ...
.
Features
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Illusion Hills, small hills on the glacier
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Litell Rocks, an area of rock outcrops within the lower Rennick Glacier
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Mount Short, a mountain included by the Rennick Glacier
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Tenterhooks Crevasses
Rennick Glacier is broad glacier, nearly long, which is one of the largest in Antarctica. It rises on the polar plateau westward of Mesa Range and is wide, narrowing to near the coast. It takes its name from Rennick Bay where the glacier reaches ...
See also
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List of glaciers in the Antarctic
There are many glaciers in the Antarctic. This set of lists does not include ice sheets, ice caps or ice fields, such as the Antarctic ice sheet, but includes glacial features that are defined by their flow, rather than general bodies of ice. Th ...
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List of Antarctic ice streams
References
External links
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Glaciers of Pennell Coast
{{PennellCoast-glacier-stub