The Scott Glacier is a major

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 a ...

, long, that drains the

East Antarctic Ice Sheet The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) is one of two large ice sheets in Antarctica, and the largest on the entire planet. The EAIS lies between 45° west and 168° east longitudinally. The EAIS holds enough ice to raise global sea levels by and ...

through the

Queen Maud Mountains The Queen Maud Mountains are a major group of mountains, ranges and subordinate features of the Transantarctic Mountains, lying between the Beardmore and Reedy Glaciers and including the area from the head of the Ross Ice Shelf to the Antarct ...

to the

Ross Ice Shelf The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (, an area of roughly and about across: about the size of France). It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than long, and between h ...

. The Scott Glacier is one of a series of major glaciers flowing across the Transantarctic Mountains, with the

Amundsen Glacier Amundsen Glacier () is a major Antarctic glacier, about 7 to 11 km (4 to 6 nmi) wide and 150 km (80 nmi) long, originating on the polar plateau where it drains the area to the south and west of Nilsen Plateau, and descending ...

to the west and the Leverett and Reedy glaciers to the east.

Geography

The Scott Glacier originates on the Antarctic Plateau in the vicinity of

D'Angelo Bluff D'Angelo Bluff () is a prominent north-facing rock bluff, long, trending westward from Mount McIntyre. The bluff stands at the west side of Scott Glacier (Transantarctic Mountains), Scott Glacier, near the head, south of Mount Early, and west of M ...

and

Mount Howe Mount Howe () is an elongated mountain in Antarctica, high, comprising low connecting ridges and gable-shaped nunataks. It rises at the east side of Scott Glacier, near the head, directly opposite Mount McIntyre. This mountain, including its sm ...

, and descends between the Nilsen Plateau and the mountains of the

Watson Escarpment Watson Escarpment () is a major escarpment in the Queen Maud Mountains, trending northward along the east margin of Scott Glacier, then eastward to Reedy Glacier where it turns southward along the glacier's west side. Somewhat arcuate, the escarp ...

to enter

just west of the

Tapley Mountains The Tapley Mountains () is a mountain range fronting on the eastern side of the Scott Glacier (Transantarctic Mountains), Scott Glacier, extending eastward for between Leverett Glacier, Leverett and Albanus Glacier, Albanus glaciers in the Queen ...

. The

, Mount Blackburn, and the La Gorce Mountains bound the Scott Glacier on its eastern margin, while the

Karo Hills The Karo Hills () are rounded, ice-free foothills in Antarctica extending for along the west side of the terminus of Scott Glacier, from Mount Salisbury north-northwest to the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. Discovery and naming The Karo Hills w ...

, Hays Mountains,

Faulkner Escarpment Nilsen Plateau () is a rugged, ice-covered plateau in Antarctica. When including Fram Mesa, the plateau is about 30 nautical miles (60 km) long and 1 to 12 nautical miles (22 km) wide, rising to 3,940 m between the upper reaches of the Amu ...

, and Rawson Mountains define the western edge of the Scott's drainage.

History

Scott Glacier was discovered in December 1929 by the Byrd Antarctic Expedition geological party under Laurence Gould. The Scott Glacier was named by the

Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (ACAN or US-ACAN) is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending commemorative names for features in Antarctica. History The committee was established ...

(US-ACAN) after early Antarctic explorer

Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...

, who never saw the Scott Glacier but rather ascended the

Beardmore Glacier The Beardmore Glacier in Antarctica is one of the largest valley glaciers in the world, being long and having a width of . It descends about from the Antarctic Plateau to the Ross Ice Shelf and is bordered by the Commonwealth Range of the Que ...

to the west en route to the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

in 1911–12. It was first ski traversed in January 1990 by

Martyn Williams Martyn Elwyn Williams, (born 1 September 1975) is a former Wales and British & Irish Lions international rugby union player. A flanker, he was Wales' most-capped forward with 100 caps until surpassed by Gethin Jenkins on 30 November 2013. H ...

(Canada, the leader and guide) and Jerry Corr (USA) traveling from the South Pole to the Ross Ice Shelf and then by Mike McDowell (Australia) in 1992, on a ski traverse from the South Pole to the coast. Thus Williams and Corr were the first people to traverse Antarctica under human power as described in the book ''The Snotsicle Traverse'' by Jerry Corr.

Geography

History

See also

References

Further reading