McMahon Glacier () is a

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

about long in the

Anare Mountains The Anare Mountains () are a large group of mainly snow-covered peaks and ridges along the northern coast of Victoria Land, Antarctica. The group is bounded on the north and east by the Pacific Ocean, on the west by Lillie Glacier, and on the sou ...

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 78th parallel south, 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Ant ...

, Antarctica. It drains north between the Buskirk Bluffs and Gregory Bluffs into Nielsen Fjord.

Name

The McMahon Glacier was named by the

Antarctic Names Committee of Australia The Australian Antarctic Names and Medals Committee (AANMC) was established to advise the Government on names for features in the Australian Antarctic Territory and the subantarctic territory of Heard Island and the McDonald Islands. The committe ...

(ANCA) for F.P. McMahon, Logistics Officer with the

Australian Antarctic Division The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) is a division of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment & Water. The division undertakes science programs and research projects to contribute to an understanding of Antarctica and the S ...

, who led a number of expeditions to

Macquarie Island Macquarie Island is a subantarctic island in the south-western Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. It has been governed as a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1880. It became a Protected areas of Tasmania, Tasmania ...

and was second-in-charge of several expeditions to Antarctica.

Location

The McMahon Glacier forms in the

to the west of

Tiger Peak The Anare Mountains () are a large group of mainly snow-covered peaks and ridges along the northern coast of Victoria Land, Antarctica. The group is bounded on the north and east by the Pacific Ocean, on the west by Lillie Glacier, and on the sou ...

and flows north past Buskirk Bluffs to the west and Gregory Bluffs to the east to enter the Nielsen Fjord, which leads to the Pacific Ocean. Cape North is at the west of the fjord's mouth, and the mouth of the

Kirkby Glacier Kirkby Glacier () is a glacier, in length, that drains the central Anare Mountains of Antarctica and flows northwest to the sea just north of Arthurson Bluff, northern Victoria Land. Name Kirkby Glacier was named by the Australian National Anta ...

is at the east.

Features

Buskirk Bluffs

. A sheer rock bluff on the west side of McMahon Glacier. Named by the

Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE ) is the historical name for the Australian Antarctic Program (AAP) administered for Australia by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). History Australia has had a long involve ...

(ANARE) for Maj. H. Buskirk, United States Air Force, official American observer with ANARE (Thala Dan), 1962, which explored this area.

Gregory Bluffs

. High granite bluffs that form the east side of Nielsen Fjord. Named by ANARE for C. Gregory, geologist with the AN ARE (Thala Dan) cruise. Pilot John Stanwix, with Gregory and party leader Phillip Law, landed a helicopter at the foot of these bluffs to examine them, February 12, 1962.

Nielsen Fjord

. A fjord wide between Cape North and Gregory Bluffs. Named by ANARE for Captain Hans Nielsen, master of the M.V. Thala Dan used in exploring this coast, 1962.

Cape North

. A large bluff with much rock exposed along the north and east sides, standing at the west side of Nielsen Fjord. The top of the bluff is snow covered and rises to about . Although it is not the northernmost coastal point in the immediate area, the feature is conspicuous and presumably is the one observed by Captain

James Clark Ross Sir James Clark Ross (15 April 1800 – 3 April 1862) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer of both the northern and southern polar regions. In the Arctic, he participated in two expeditions led by his uncle, Sir John Ross, John ...

in 1841 and given the name Cape North. On the chart by Ross, Cape North is depicted as the northernmost cape observed westward of Cape Hooker.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Macmahon Glacier Glaciers of Pennell Coast