Union Glacier (), is a large, heavily crevassed

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 ...

which receives the flow of several tributaries and drains through the middle of the

Heritage Range The Heritage Range is a major mountain range, long and wide, situated southward of Minnesota Glacier and forming the southern half of the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica. The range is complex, consisting of scattered ridges and peaks of mod ...

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 ...

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 ...

. The glacier drains from the plateau at

Edson Hills The Edson Hills () are a group of mainly ice-free hills lying south of Drake Icefall and west of Union Glacier in the Heritage Range of the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica. They were named by the University of Minnesota Ellsworth Mountains Party, ...

on the west side of the range and flows east between

Pioneer Heights Pioneer Heights is a group name in the Heritage Range, Ellsworth Mountains, encompassing the large area of hills, ridges and peaks located eastward of Schneider and Schanz Glaciers and between Splettstoesser and Union Glaciers. Among these featur ...

and

Enterprise Hills The Enterprise Hills are a prominent group of largely ice-free hills and peaks in the form of an arc. The feature extends for about to form the north and northeast boundary of Horseshoe Valley in the Heritage Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. The ...

. Union Glacier was mapped by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from surveys and U.S. Navy (USN) air photos, 1961–66. The name was applied by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) in association with the name Heritage Range. The glacier is the site of

Union Glacier Blue-Ice Runway Union Glacier Blue-Ice Runway is the blue ice runway for Union Glacier Camp in Antarctica. It is located in the Heritage Range, Ellsworth Mountains The Ellsworth Mountains are the highest mountain ranges in Antarctica, forming a long and wide ...

Union Glacier Camp The Union Glacier Camp is the only private seasonally occupied camp site located in Ellsworth Land in Antarctica. The camp is located in the Heritage Range, below the Ellsworth Mountains, on Union Glacier, that gives the camp its name. Locatio ...

and Union Glacier Station.Polar Conservation Organisation

Maps

Union Glacier.
Scale 1:250 000 topographic map. Reston, Virginia: US Geological Survey, 1966.
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 {{EllsworthLand-glacier-stub

Maps

See also

References