Beardmore Glacier

Beardmore Glacier
Aerial view of the Beardmore Glacier in 1956
Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica
Type	Valley glacier
Coordinates	83°45′S 171°0′E / 83.750°S 171.000°E / -83.750; 171.000Coordinates: 83°45′S 171°0′E / 83.750°S 171.000°E / -83.750; 171.000
Length	125 mi (201 km)
Width	25 mi (40 km)
Terminus	Ross Ice Shelf

The Beardmore Glacier in Antarctica is one of the largest valley glaciers in the world, being 125 mi (201 km) long and having a width of 25 mi (40 km).^[1] It descends about 7,200 ft (2,200 m)^[1] from the Antarctic Plateau to the Ross Ice Shelf and is bordered by the Commonwealth Range of the Queen Maud Mountains on the eastern side and the Queen Alexandra Range of the Central Transantarctic Mountains on the western.^[2]

The glacier is one of the main passages through the Transantarctic Mountains to the great polar plateau beyond, and was one of the early routes to the South Pole despite its steep upward incline.

The glacier was discovered and climbed by Ernest Shackleton during his Nimrod Expedition of 1908. Although Shackleton turned back before reaching the South Pole, he established the first proven route towards the pole and, in doing so, became the first person to set foot upon the polar plateau. In 1911–1912, Captain Scott and his Terra Nova Expedition team reached the South Pole by similarly climbing the Beardmore. However, they reached the pole a month after Roald Amundsen and his team, who had chosen a route up the previously unknown Axel Heiberg Glacier.

Beardmore Glacier was named by Shackleton after Sir William Beardmore, a Scottish industrialist and expedition sponsor born in 1856.

See also

• List of glaciers in the Antarctic

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Beardmore Glacier" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).