Birdmore Glacier

Birdmore Glacier is one of the largest valley glaciers in the world. Its length is more than 160 kilometers . The glacier is located in Antarctica and is one of the main passages through the Transantarctic mountains from the Ross Ice Shelf to the Polar Plateau . On the west side, the glacier is bounded by the ridge of Queen Alexandra , and on the east - by the ridge of the Commonwealth and the Kilti glacier .

Birdmore Glacier
1956 year. Aerial view of Beardmore Glacier.
Specifications
Type of	valley
Length	168 km
Location
Continent	Antarctica
Birdmore Glacier

Ice from the East Antarctic ice sheet flows through the Transantarctic Mountains with several glaciers towards the Ross Sea and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, flowing into the Ross Ice Shelf in the southwestern part of Shackleton. These glaciers mainly flow perpendicular to the axis of the ridge and divide it into mountain systems. It is assumed that many of these glaciers are located along large geological faults.

Early paths to the South Pole were laid through the Birdmore Glacier. The discoverer was Ernest Shackleton during his Antarctic expedition of 1908-1909 on the ship Nimrod . The researcher with his group expected to reach the South Pole, but reached only latitude 88 ° 23 ". Shackleton's group was the first to set foot on a large polar plateau. The passage through the Transantarctic Mountains was carried out along the glacier, which the expedition gave the name of Sir William Birdmore William Beardmore ), a Scottish industrialist and expedition sponsor born in 1856.

The 1911-1913 expedition of Robert Scott took advantage of the same passage in 1911 when trying to reach the pole. Scott's team successfully reached the goal on January 18, 1912, but the independently acting group of Royal Amundsen was 35 days ahead of them , taking advantage of the previously unknown Axel Heiber Glacier when crossing the mountains.