Liv Glacier () is a steep valley glacier, long, emerging from the

Antarctic Plateau The Antarctic Plateau, Polar Plateau or King Haakon VII Plateau is a large area of East Antarctica that extends over a diameter of about , and includes the region of the geographic South Pole and the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. Thi ...

just southeast of

Barnum Peak Barnum Peak () is a peak, high, surmounting the east end of a prominent snow-covered rock divide near the head of Liv Glacier, just south of the mouth of LaVergne Glacier. It was discovered by Rear Admiral Byrd on the Byrd Antarctic Expedition f ...

and draining north 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 Glacier, Beardmore and Reedy Glaciers and including the area from the head of the Ross Ice Sh ...

to enter

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 high ...

between

Mayer Crags The Lillie Range () in Antarctica extends northward from the Prince Olav Mountains (in the vicinity of Mount Fisher) to the Ross Ice Shelf. Mounts Hall, Daniel, Krebs and Mason are in the range. Naming The Lillie Range was named by the Southern ...

and

Duncan Mountains The Duncan Mountains () are a group of rugged coastal foothills, about long, extending from the mouth of Liv Glacier to the mouth of Strom Glacier at the head of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. Discovery and naming The Duncan Mountains were d ...

. It was discovered in 1911 by

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegians, Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Am ...

, who named it for the daughter of

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and co-founded the ...

Richard E. Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer, and pioneering aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics. Aircraft flights in which he served as a navigator and expedition leader cr ...

chose this glacier as his route to the Polar Plateau on 28 November 1929 when he flew from Little America to the South Pole.

Location

According to ''Sailing Directions for Antarctica'' (1960), "The Liv Glacier (85° S. 168° W.) reaches the Ross Ice Shelf on the western side of the Duncan Mountains. It is about 7 miles wide and trends southward about 40 miles to the polar plateau. The Fisher Mountains rise prominently forming the western wall, and the massif of

Mount Fridtjof Nansen The Herbert Range () is a range in the Queen Maud Mountains of Antarctica, extending from the edge of the Antarctic Plateau to the Ross Ice Shelf between the Axel Heiberg Glacier and Strom Glacier. Named by the New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names ...

, about 13,156 feet high, forms the eastern flank of the Liv Glacier. The northern slopes of this sandstone and granite massif were investigated by Gould in 1929, and coal beds found. Many tributary or dendritic glaciers feed the Liv Glacier from the heights of the bordering mountains." The head of Liv Glacier is on the

East Antarctic Ice Sheet The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) lies between 45th meridian west, 45° west and 168th meridian east, 168° east longitudinally. It was first formed around 34 million years ago, and it is the largest ice sheet on the entire planet, with far gre ...

, where it passes through Hump Passage. The glacier flow north, and near its head is joined by the LaVergne Glacier. It turn northeast, and flows on both sides past McKinley Nunatak, June Nunatak and Aviator Nunatak. Opposite June Nunatak it is joined from the left (northwest) by DeGanahl Glacier. Further down it is joined from the left by Zotikov Glacier, then from the right by Somero Glacier. It flows into the Ross Ice Shelf between

Mount Henson The Lillie Range () in Antarctica extends northward from the Prince Olav Mountains (in the vicinity of Mount Fisher) to the Ross Ice Shelf. Mounts Hall, Daniel, Krebs and Mason are in the range. Naming The Lillie Range was named by the Souther ...

to the northwest and

Morris Peak The Duncan Mountains () are a group of rugged coastal foothills, about long, extending from the mouth of Liv Glacier to the mouth of Strom Glacier at the head of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. Discovery and naming The Duncan Mountains were d ...

to the southeast.

Head

Hump Passage

. A wide gap just southeast of

, through which Liv Glacier emerges from the polar plateau. It was originally referred to as the "Hump" by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd and is the pass over which he made his historic South Pole flight of 1929. The feature was observed by the Southern Party of NZGSAE (1961-62) who recommended perpetuation of a form of the original name.

Nunataks

The three nunataks in Liv Glacier are, from south to north,

McKinley Nunatak

. The southernmost of three large nunataks in upper Liv Glacier, about north-north-east of

. Named by the Southern Party of the NZGSAE (1961-62) for Capt. Ashley C. McKinley, photographer with R. Admiral Richard E. Byrd on his South Pole flight of 1929.

June Nunatak

. The central of three nunataks in mid-stream of the upper Liv Glacier, standing about southeast of Mount Wells, in the Queen Maud Mountains. Named by the Southern Party of the NZGSAE (1961-62) for Harold June, aviator and engineer on the South Pole flight of R. Admiral Richard E. Byrd in 1929.

Aviator Nunatak

. The northernmost of three large nunataks in the upper Liv Glacier, standing east of Mount Wells. Named by the Southern Party of the NZGSAE (1961–62) for the aviators of R. Admiral

's flight to the South Pole in 1929.

Tributaries

LaVergne Glacier

. A tributary glacier about long, flowing east along the south slopes of

Seabee Heights The Prince Olav Mountains () is a mountain group in the Queen Maud Mountains in Antarctica stretching from Shackleton Glacier to Liv Glacier at the head of the Ross Ice Shelf. Discovery and naming The Prince Olav Mountains were discovered in 191 ...

to enter Liv Glacier close southwest of McKinley Nunatak. Named by US-ACAN for Lt. Cdr. Cornelius B. de LaVergne, Deputy Commander of Antarctic Support Activity at McMurdo Station during USN OpdFrz 1961.

DeGanahl Glacier

. A narrow, steep-walled glacier about long, flowing southeast from Jones Peak into the west side of Liv Glacier, opposite June Nunatak. Discovered and photographed by R. Admiral Byrd on the South Pole Flight in November 1929 and named for Joe DeGanahl, navigator and dog driver and member of the Supporting Party, ByrdAE, 1928-30.

Zotikov Glacier

. A tributary glacier, long, flowing northeast from Mount Fisher in the Prince Olav Mountains and entering Liv Glacier just east of Hardiman Peak. Named by US-ACAN for

Igor A. Zotikov Igor Alekseevich Zotikov () (March 7, 1926 – August 23, 2010) was a Russian glaciologist, polar explorer and academic. Zotikov was best known for predicting the existence of fresh water lakes under the Antarctic ice sheet, later to be discov ...

, Soviet exchange scientist to the USARP at McMurdo Station in 1965.

Somero Glacier

. A tributary glacier long, flowing northwest from

Mount Fairweather Mount Fairweather (or ''Tsalxaan'' in the Tlingit language) is a mountain located east of the Pacific Ocean on the Canada–United States border. With an elevation of , it is the tallest mountain in British Columbia and the seventh-tallest mou ...

to enter Liv Glacier just south of the west end of the

. Named by US-ACAN for George N. Somero, USARP biologist at McMurdo Station, 1963-64, and winter 1965.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{Glaciers of the Ross Dependency Queen Maud Mountains Glaciers of Amundsen Coast Glaciers of Dufek Coast