Fisher 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 ...

Mac. Robertson Land Mac. Robertson Land is the portion of Antarctica lying southward of the coast between William Scoresby Bay and Cape Darnley. It is located at . In the east, Mac. Robertson Land includes the Prince Charles Mountains. It was named by the Britis ...

, Antarctica. It is a major tributary of the

Lambert Glacier Lambert Glacier is a major glacier in East Antarctica. At about 80 km (50 mi) wide, over 400 km (250 mi) long, and about 2,500 m (8,200 ft) deep, it is the world's largest glacier. It drains 8% of the Antarctic ice sheet to the e ...

. The glacier is unusual in periodically surging.

Name

The Fisher Glacier was sighted from

Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE ) is the historical name for the Australia: Antarctic Program#Australian Antarctic program, Australian Antarctic Program (AAP) administered for Australia by the Australian Antarctic D ...

(ANARE) aircraft by K.B. Mather in 1957. It 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 N.H. Fisher, chief geologist, Bureau of Mineral Resources, Dept. of National Development, Australia.

Location

The Fisher Glacier is a prominent western tributary to the

. It is about long. It flows east past the north sides of

Mount Menzies Mount Menzies is the culminating peak (3,220 m; 10,560 ft) on the large massif between Mount Mather and Mount Bayliss, standing on the south side of Fisher Glacier, Antarctica. It was sighted by Flying Officer J. Seaton from an ANAR ...

and Mount Rubin and joins the main stream of the Lambert Glacier just east of Mount Stinear. The combined Lambert-Fisher Glacier is said to be long, up to wide, and drains about 8 percent of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. This would make it the largest glacier in the world. However, a study released in 2002 showed that the grounding line of the Lambert,

Mellor Mellor is a surname. Notable people with this surname * Alan Mellor (born 1959), English cricketer * Anne K. Mellor (born 1942), feminist scholar of Romantic literature * Bernard Mellor (1917–1998), British academic * Chip Mellor (born 1950), Pre ...

and Fisher glacier system is up closer to the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the point in the Southern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True South Pole to distinguish ...

than had been previously thought. The lower part of this system is more properly considered part of the

Amery Ice Shelf The Amery Ice Shelf () is a broad ice shelf in Antarctica at the head of Prydz Bay between the Lars Christensen Coast and Ingrid Christensen Coast. It is part of Mac. Robertson Land. The name "Cape Amery" was applied to a coastal angle mappe ...

, and the Fisher glacier as a tributary of this ice shelf. Still, the combined Lambert, Mellor and Fisher glaciers have a total grounded area of more than .

Surging

There are well-preserved old moraines along the Fisher Glacier and the lower Lambert Glacier. These show that at least three times in the past the ice level had risen by above its present level. These fluctuations do not appear in the upper regions of nearby glaciers that also drain central Antarctica, but do appear in their lower parts. It seems that they were caused by repeated surges of the Fisher Glacier.

Tributaries

Geysen Glacier

. A large tributary to the Fisher Glacier, flowing northeast between Mount Bayliss and Mount Ruker in the

Prince Charles Mountains The Prince Charles Mountains are a major group of mountains in Mac. Robertson Land in Antarctica, including the Athos Range, the Porthos Range, and the Aramis Range. The highest peak is Mount Menzies, with a height of . Other prominent peaks ...

. Plotted from air photos taken by ANARE in 1956 and 1957. Named by ANCA for H. Geysen, officer in charge of Mawson Station, 1960.

Other features

Goodspeed Nunataks

. A group of three rows of nunataks, oriented approximately east–west and long, located at the west end of Fisher Glacier, about west-north-west of Mount McCauley, in the Prince Charles Mountains. Sighted by an ANARE seismic party led by K.B. Mather in January 1958. Named by ANCA after M.J. Goodspeed, geophysicist at

Mawson Station Mawson Station, commonly called Mawson, is one of three permanent bases and research outposts in Antarctica managed by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). Mawson lies in Holme Bay in Mac. Robertson Land, East Antarctica in the Australian ...

in 1957.

Seavers Nunataks

. Two nunataks west of Mount Scherger, near the head of Fisher Glacier in the Prince Charles Mountains, Mac. Robertson Land. Mapped from ANARE air photos and surveys, 1958 and 1960–61. Named by ANCA for J.A. Seavers, assistant cook at Mawson Station, a member of the ANARE field party in this area in 1961.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{Glaciers of Mac. Robertson Land Glaciers of Mac. Robertson Land