Aviator Glacier is a major

valley glacier A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

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 ...

that is over long and wide, descending generally southward from the plateau of

Victoria Land Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf, extending southward from about 70°30'S to 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Antarctic Plateau. I ...

along the west side of

Mountaineer Range Mountaineer Range is the range of mountains lying between the Mariner and Aviator Glaciers in Victoria Land, Antarctica. The seaward parts of the range were first viewed by Ross in 1841, and subsequently by several British and later American exp ...

, and entering Lady Newnes Bay between Cape Sibbald and Hayes Head where it forms the Aviator Glacier Tongue. A glacier is a mass of ice with sufficient thickness to flow away from the source area in lobes, tongues or masses. Glaciers are usually found at high latitudes or high elevations. The glacier was photographed from the air by Captain W.M. Hawkes,

US Navy 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 ...

, on the historic first flight from New Zealand to

McMurdo Sound McMurdo Sound is a sound in Antarctica. It is the southernmost navigable body of water in the world, and is about from the South Pole. Captain James Clark Ross discovered the sound in February 1841, and named it after Lt. Archibald McMurdo ...

on December 17, 1955. An attempt to reconnoiter it by helicopter and to land a party of the

New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition The New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition (NZGSAE) describes a series of scientific explorations of the continent Antarctica. The expeditions were notably active throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Features named by the expeditions 1957 ...

(NZGSAE) on it had to be abandoned when USS ''Glacier'' was damaged in pressure ice in December 1958. It was named by NZGSAE, 1958–59, as a tribute to the hazardous work of pilots and other airmen in Antarctic exploratory and scientific operations.

Aviator Glacier Tongue

The Aviator Glacier Tongue in Antarctica is a seaward extension of Aviator Glacier into the

Ross Sea The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land and within the Ross Embayment, and is the southernmost sea on Earth. It derives its name from the British explorer James Clark Ross who ...

, between Wood Bay and Lady Newness Bay along the coast of Victoria Land. This floating

ice tongue An ice tongue is a long and narrow sheet of ice projecting out from the coastline. An ice tongue forms when a valley glacier moves very rapidly (relative to surrounding ice) out into the ocean or a lake. They can gain mass from water freezing at ...

extends into the water for about . The name was recommended by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names in association with Aviator Glacier.

References

* * Glaciers of Borchgrevink Coast {{BorchgrevinkCoast-glacier-stub

Aviator Glacier Tongue

See also

References