Byrd Glacier
Encyclopedia
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
in Antarctica, about 136 km long and 24 km wide, draining an extensive area of the polar plateau and flowing eastward between the Britannia Range and Churchill Mountains
Churchill Mountains
The Churchill Mountains is a mountain range bordering the western side of the Ross Ice Shelf between Byrd Glacier and Nimrod Glacier in Antarctica...
to discharge into the Ross Ice Shelf
Ross Ice Shelf
The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica . It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than 600 km long, and between 15 and 50 metres high above the water surface...
at Barne Inlet
Barne Inlet
Barne Inlet is a reentrant about wide occupied by the lower part of Byrd Glacier, lying between Cape Kerr and Cape Selborne on the west side of the Ross Ice Shelf...
.
Named by the NZ-APC after Rear Admiral Byrd
Richard Evelyn Byrd
Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd, Jr., USN was a naval officer who specialized in feats of exploration. He was a pioneering American aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics...
, US Navy, American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Antarctic explorer.
See also
- Ice streamIce streamAn ice stream is a region of an ice sheet that moves significantly faster than the surrounding ice. Ice streams are a type of glacier. They are significant features of the Antarctic where they account for 10% of the volume of the ice...
- List of glaciers in the Antarctic
- List of Antarctic ice streams