Gordon Glacier
Map showing the location of Gordon Glacier
Map showing the location of Gordon Glacier
Location of Gordon Glacier in Antarctica
LocationCoats Land
Coordinates80°17′S 26°09′W / 80.283°S 26.150°W / -80.283; -26.150
Length24 nmi (44 km; 28 mi)
Thicknessunknown
TerminusSlessor Glacier
Statusunknown

Gordon Glacier (80°17′S 26°09′W / 80.283°S 26.150°W / -80.283; -26.150) is an Antarctic glacier of at least 24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi) in length flowing in a northerly direction beginning in the Crossover Pass, flowing through the Shackleton Range to finally meet the Slessor Glacier.[1]

Exploration

The glacier was first mapped in 1957 by the CTAE, and named after George Patrick Pirie-Gordon, 15th Laird of Buthlaw (died 4 April 2011), who was a member of the Committee of Management and treasurer of the CTAE between 1955 and 1958.[1]

Location

The Gordon Glacier is one of the larger of the glaciers in the Shackleton Range.[2] It is essentially a long and wide snowfield. It does not show positive evidence of movement such as crevassing, but its upper reach has a group of ice falls and the middle section has wide and deep undulations.[3] Its upper section is fed from Fuchs Dome to its west and Shotton Snowfield to its east. It flows between the La Grange Nunataks to the west and the Herbert Mountains to the east, entering Slessor Glacier between Wiggans Hills and Mount Sheffield.[4]

The glacier originates near Crossover Pass and Spath Crest, which lie on the ice divide in the Shackleton Mountains, with Cornwall Glacier flowing south from this area while Gordon Glacier flows north.[2][4] The valleys of the Gordon and Cornwall glaciers may reflect an underlying fault zone, and have been treated as a divide between the western and eastern portions of the Shackleton Range.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Alberts 1995, p. 285.
  2. ^ a b Höfle & Buggisch 1993, p. 184.
  3. ^ Skidmore & Clarkson 1972, p. 75.
  4. ^ a b Shackleton USGS map.
  5. ^ Skidmore & Clarkson 1972, p. 71.

Sources

  • Alberts, Fred G., ed. (1995), Geographic Names of the Antarctic (PDF) (2 ed.), United States Board on Geographic Names, retrieved 3 December 2023 Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Board on Geographic Names.
  • Höfle, Hans-Christian; Buggisch, Werner (1993), "Glacial Geology and Petrography of Erratics in the Shackleton Range, Antarctica" (PDF), Polarforschung, vol. 63, no. 213, pp. 183–201, retrieved 5 December 2023
  • Shackleton Range, United States Geological Survey, 1983, retrieved 4 December 2023 Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Geological Survey.
  • Skidmore, Michael J.; Clarkson, Peter D. (1972), "Physiography and Glacial Geomorphology of the Shackleton Range" (PDF), Antarctic Survey Bulletin, no. 30, retrieved 6 December 2023
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