Mackay Glacier () is a large

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 ...

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 ...

, descending eastward from the Antarctic polar plateau, between the

Convoy Range Convoy Range () is a broad mountain range in Antarctica. Much of the range has a nearly flat plateau-like summit, extending south from the Fry Saddle and ending at Mackay Glacier. The range has steep cliffs on its east side, but it slopes gently ...

and

Clare Range Clare Range () is the range extending west-southwest from Sperm Bluff to the Willett Range on the south side of Mackay Glacier, in Victoria Land. It was circumnavigated in 1957 by the New Zealand Northern Survey Party of the Commonwealth Trans-Anta ...

, into the southern part of

Granite Harbour Granite Harbour () is a bay in the coast of Victoria Land, Antarctica, about long, entered between Cape Archer and Cape Roberts. It was discovered and named by the British National Antarctic Expedition (1901–04) in the ''Discovery Discovery ...

. It was discovered by the South Magnetic Pole party of the

British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–09 The ''Nimrod'' Expedition of 1907–1909, otherwise known as the British Antarctic Expedition, was the first of three successful expeditions to the Antarctic led by Ernest Shackleton and his second expedition to the Antarctic. Its main target, ...

, and named for

Alistair F. Mackay Alistair is a masculine given name. It is an Anglicised form of the Scottish Gaelic ''Alasdair''. The latter is most likely a Scottish Gaelic variant of the Norman French Alexandre (given name), Alexandre or Latin Alexander, which was incorporated ...

, a member of the party. The glacier's

tongue The tongue is a muscular organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for mastication and swallowing as part of the digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surface (dorsum) is covered by taste bu ...

is called Mackay Glacier Tongue. First mapped by the British Antarctic Expedition (1910–13) and named in association with Mackay Glacier. Cuff Cape emerges from the icy coast immediately south of Mackay Glacier.

References

Glaciers of Victoria Land Scott Coast {{ScottCoast-geo-stub