Mill Glacier () is a tributary

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 ...

, wide, flowing northwest between the

Dominion Range The Dominion Range () is a broad mountain range, about long, forming a prominent salient at the juncture of the Beardmore and Mill glaciers in Antarctica. The range is part of the Queen Maud Mountains The range was discovered by the British Ant ...

and the

Supporters Range The Supporters Range () is a rugged range in the Queen Maud Mountains of Antarctica. It is long, bordering the eastern side of Mill Glacier, from Keltie Glacier in the north to Mill Stream Glacier in the south. So named by the New Zealand Geol ...

into

Beardmore Glacier The Beardmore Glacier in Antarctica is one of the largest valley glaciers in the world, being long and having a width of . It descends about from the Antarctic Plateau to the Ross Ice Shelf and is bordered by the Commonwealth Range of the Queen ...

, Antarctica. It was discovered by the

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

, and named for

Hugh Robert Mill Hugh Robert Mill (28 May 1861 – 5 April 1950) was a British geographer and meteorologist who was influential in the reform of geography teaching, and in the development of meteorology as a science. He was President of the Royal Meteorologica ...

, a British geographer and Antarctic historian.

Course

The

Grosvenor Mountains The Grosvenor Mountains () are a group of widely scattered mountains and nunataks rising above the Antarctic polar plateau east of the head of Mill Glacier, extending from Mount Pratt in the north to the Mount Raymond area in the south, and from ...

, a group of widely scattered mountains and nunataks, rises above the polar plateau east of the head of Mill Glacier. The Mill Glacier is a

valley glacier Glacier morphology, or the form a glacier takes, is influenced by temperature, precipitation, topography, and other factors. The goal of glacial morphology is to gain a better understanding of glaciated landscapes and the way they are shaped. T ...

that flows down from the Grosvenor Mountains past

Otway Massif The Grosvenor Mountains () are a group of widely scattered mountains and nunataks rising above the Antarctic polar plateau east of the head of Mill Glacier, extending from Mount Pratt in the north to the Mount Raymond area in the south, and from O ...

, then between the

and

before joining the Beardmore Glacier. The head of the glacier is crossed by the Scott Icefalls. From there it flows northwest between the Dominion Range to the west and the

to the east. The Mill Stream Glacier, which is fed from the south by the Burgess Glacier, joins the Mill Glacier from the east to the north of the Otway Massif. The Vandement Glacier and the Koski Glacier enter from the Dominion Range to the west. The Mill Glacier flows past the Supporters Range to the east to join the

from the southeast at

Plunket Point The Dominion Range () is a broad mountain range, about long, forming a prominent salient at the juncture of the Beardmore and Mill glaciers in Antarctica. The range is part of the Queen Maud Mountains The range was discovered by the British Anta ...

Airfield potential

Over large areas the Mill Glacier has very smooth ice, free of crevasses. Just upstream of

, where it joins the Beardmore, there is an area of smooth and level blue ice over long in a NNW-SSE direction that is suitable for an airfield. The ice thickness seems to be about . The runway faces directly into the wind. It appears to be a useful alternative to Mount Howe in an emergency. During the Shackleton Glacier Project, 1995-1996,

Lockheed LC-130 The Lockheed LC-130 is a ski-equipped United States Air Force variant of the C-130 Hercules used in the Arctic and Antarctic. Ten are currently in service with the 109th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard. Design and developmen ...

aircraft placed fuel caches on the Mill Glacier.

Tributaries

Scott Icefalls

. Extensive icefalls near the head of Mill Glacier, between Otway Massif and the south part of Dominion Range. Named by the

NZGSAE The New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition (NZGSAE) describes a series of scientific explorations of the continent Antarctica. The expeditions were notably active throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Features named by the expeditions 195 ...

(1961-62) for Captain

Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott (6 June 1868 – ) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–04 and the Terra Nova Expedition ...

Mill Stream Glacier

. A tributary glacier, about wide, flowing west between Supporters Range and Otway Massif to enter Mill Glacier. Named by the NZGSAE (1961-62) in association with Mill Glacier.

Burgess Glacier

. A glacier, long, flowing northwest through Otway Massif to enter Mill Stream Glacier. Named by the

Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (ACAN or US-ACAN) is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending commemorative names for features in Antarctica. History The committee was established ...

(US-ACAN) for Robert W. Burgess,

United States Antarctic Program The United States Antarctic Program (or USAP; formerly known as the United States Antarctic Research Program or USARP and the United States Antarctic Service or USAS) is an organization of the United States government which has a presence in the ...

(USARP) ionospheric physicist at

South Pole Station South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

in 1963.

Vandement Glacier

. An east-flowing glacier, long, draining the east-central portion of the Dominion Range icecap. The glacier lies close south of Koski Glacier, whose flow it parallels, and terminates northwest of Safety Spur. Named by US-ACAN for Charles H. Vandament, USARP ionospheric physicist at South Pole Station in 1962.

Koski Glacier

. An east-flowing glacier, long, draining the east-central portion of the Dominion Range icecap. The glacier lies close north of Vandament Glacier, whose flow it parallels, and terminates at Mill Glacier just southeast of Browns Butte. Named by US-ACAN for Raymond J. Koski, USARP engineer on several traverses originating at the South Pole Station 1962-63, 1963–64 and 1964–65.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{Glaciers of the Ross Dependency Glaciers of Dufek Coast