The Slessor 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 ...
at least 140 km (75 nmi) long and 90 km (50 nmi) wide, flowing west into the
Filchner Ice Shelf
Wilhelm Filchner (13 September 1877 – 7 May 1957) was a German army officer, scientist and explorer. He conducted several surveys and scientific investigations in China, Tibet and surrounding regions, and led the Second German Antarctic Expeditio ...
to the north of the
Shackleton Range
The Shackleton Range is a mountain range in Antarctica. Rising at Holmes Summit to , it extends in an east–west direction for about between the Slessor and Recovery glaciers.
The range was named after Sir Ernest Shackleton, leader of the ...
. First seen from the air and mapped by the
Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition
The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE) of 1955–1958 was a Commonwealth-sponsored expedition that successfully completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole. It was the first expedition to reach the South ...
(CTAE) in 1956. Named by the CTAE for
RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
Marshal Sir
John Slessor
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Cotesworth Slessor, (3 June 1897 – 12 July 1979) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force (RAF), serving as Chief of the Air Staff from 1950 to 1952. As a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps duri ...
, chairman of the expedition committee.
See also
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Ice stream
An ice stream is a region of fast-moving ice within an ice sheet. It is a type of glacier, a body of ice that moves under its own weight. They can move upwards of a year, and can be up to in width, and hundreds of kilometers in length. They ...
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List of glaciers in the Antarctic
There are many glaciers in the Antarctic. This set of lists does not include ice sheets, ice caps or ice fields, such as the Antarctic ice sheet, but includes glacial features that are defined by their flow, rather than general bodies of ice. ...
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List of Antarctic ice streams
This is a list of Antarctic ice streams.
A complete list of Antarctic ice streams is not available. Names and locations of Antarctic ice features, including those listed below, can be found in the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, Gaze ...
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Glaciology
Glaciology (; ) is the scientific study of glaciers, or more generally ice and natural phenomena that involve ice.
Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology, c ...
References
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Glaciers of Coats Land
Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf
{{CoatsLand-glacier-stub