Transition 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 ...
extending along 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 ...
, 8 nautical miles (15 km) long and 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) wide, which flows east into the
George VI Ice Shelf that occupies
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 ...
along the north side of
Block Mountain and
Tilt Rock. The glacier was first photographed from the air on November 23, 1935, 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 ...
and mapped from these photos by
W.L.G. Joerg. Surveyed in 1949 by the
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 ...
, and so named by them because this glacier marks the transition between igneous rocks to the north and sedimentary rocks to the south.
See also
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List of glaciers in the Antarctic
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Balakirev Glacier
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Eros Glacier
Eros Glacier () is a glacier on the east coast of Alexander Island, Antarctica, long and wide at its mouth, flowing southeast from the Planet Heights into George VI Sound immediately north of Fossil Bluff. It was probably first seen on November ...
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Lennon Glacier
Glaciers of Alexander Island
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