Ryan Glacier () is a

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 ...

, 2

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Today t ...

s (3.7 km) long, flowing west to the head of

Ice Fjord Ice Fjord is a bay long and wide, entered between Weddell Point and Kade Point along the south coast and near the west end of South Georgia Island. The name is well established, dating back to about 1920. A number of features along the bay's c ...

South Georgia South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east ...

. The German Antarctic Expedition (1911–12) named this glacier for Dr.

Albrecht Penck Albrecht Penck (25 September 1858 – 7 March 1945) was a German geographer and geologist and the father of Walther Penck. Biography Born in Reudnitz near Leipzig, Penck became a university professor in Vienna, Austria, from 1885 to 1906, ...

, though an incorrect spelling "Penk" appeared on published maps. A number of significant Antarctic features, including a glacier, are named for Albrecht Penck. To avoid confusion of these names the

United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (or UK-APC) is a United Kingdom government committee, part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for recommending names of geographical locations within the British Antarctic Territory (BAT) and ...

(UK-APC) recommended in 1957 that this feature be renamed. Ryan Glacier is named for Alfredo R.L. Ryan, president since 1946 of the

Compañía Argentina de Pesca Compañía Argentina de Pesca ( en, Argentine Fishing Company) was initiated by the British-Norwegian whaler and Antarctic explorer Carl A. Larsen, and established on 29 February 1904 by three foreign residents of Buenos Aires: the Norwegian co ...

, which operated the

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...

station at

Grytviken Grytviken ( ) is a settlement on South Georgia in the South Atlantic and formerly a whaling station and the largest settlement on the island. It is located at the head of King Edward Cove within the larger Cumberland East Bay, considered the bes ...

References

Glaciers of South Georgia {{SouthGeorgia-glacier-stub

See also

References