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Skelton Glacier
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Skelton Glacier
Skelton Glacier (78°35′S 161°30′E / 78.583°S 161.500°E) is a large glacier flowing from the polar plateau into the Ross Ice Shelf at Skelton Inlet on the Hillary Coast, south of Victoria Land, Antarctica.
Skelton Glacier was named after the Skelton Inlet by the New Zealand party of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE), 1956–58. The glacier was chosen in 1957 as the New Zealand party's route from the Ross Ice Shelf to the Antarctic Plateau. The Arctic Institute of North America organized two ground traverses in the antarctic summer of 1959–60 sponsored by the United States Antarctic Research Program. The first left New Zealand's Scott Base on 16 October 1959, crossed part of the Ross Ice Shelf, and on 27 October 1959 reached the foot of the Skelton Glacier. They traversed up the heavily crevassed glacier to a fuel cache deposited on the edge of the Victoria Land plateau by planes of the United States Navy and Air Force. From there they travelled more than 600 miles (970 km) to the end station of the French 1958–59 traverse, then east toward the head of Tucker Glacier.
The Skelton Glacier flows from the high plateau of Victoria Land down to the west edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. It separates the Worcester Range and the Royal Society Range of the Great Antarctic Horst (Transantarctic Mountains). The elevation in the upper névé field is over 2,300 metres (7,500 ft), falling to 84 metres (276 ft) above sea level near Teall Island at its mouth on the Ross Ice Shelf. The west and east sections of the upper glacier are fed by névé fields separated by the Névé Nunatak, Halfway Nunatak and Clinker Bluff. The glacier is also fed by short and steep glaciers from the Worcester Range and Royal Society Range.
Across the mouth, on a line from Teall Island to Fishtail Point, ice thickness varies from 490 to 600 metres (1,610 to 1,970 ft), with very little of the ice grounded. The ocean floor depth along this line varies from 837 to 1,592 metres (2,746 to 5,223 ft) below sea level. Based on 1958–59 measurements of the ice profile and velocity on this line, an estimated equivalent of 712,000,000 cubic metres (2.51×1010 cu ft) of water is delivered to the Ross Ice Shelf. A 1961 study of ice movement on the Skelton Glacier estimated that the Skelton névé field and the small cirque glaciers accumulate equivalent of 1,018,000,000 cubic metres (3.60×1010 cu ft) of water per year, but assuming no more than 30% of this is lost to katabatic winds, it would seem that little or none of the ice delivered to the Ross Ice Shelf comes from the high Antarctic Plateau.
A study of ice-surface lowering in the upper Skelton Glacier was published in 2020. It concluded that ice surface lowering of the glacier was caused by the retreat of grounded ice in the Ross Sea, which reduced buttressing and drew down the glacier into the Ross Sea. Most of the lowering since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) occurred between 15,000 and 6,000 years ago. At Escalade Peak in the upper Skelton valley, far from the mouth, the ice surface was at least 50 metres (160 ft) and possibly more than 120 metres (390 ft) higher in LGM than today. These ice elevation changes in a slow-flowing upvalley glacier are several hundred meters less than previous models predicted, which mainly focussed on elevation changes at the glacier mouths.
Skelton Glacier rises in the Skelton Névé, which is fed by The Portal and the Skelton Icefalls from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The névé lies to the east of the Boomerang Range, north of Escalade Peak and south of Portal Mountain. Scattered nunataks in the névé include Icefall Nunatak, Mount Metschel, Névé Nunatak, Halfway Nunatak, Swartz Nunataks and Clem Nunatak. The Skelton Glacier flows south from the southeast of the névé. The east of the névé feeds the Upper Staircase, The Landing and the Lower Staircase. Lower Staircase flows past Twin Rocks and is fed from the north past Stepaside Spur by Rutgers Glacier, Allison Glacier and Dale Glacier. Further south it is fed from the east from the Royal Society Range by Potter Glacier and Wirdnam Glacier.
The Lower Staircase joins Skelton Glacier past Clinker Bluff, flowing past Mount Tricouni and Hobnail Peak, below which Skelton Glacier is joined from the east by Baronick Glacier and Cocks Glacier. Skelton Glacier flows south along the west side of the Worcester Range, from which it is joined by Delta Glacier below Delta Bluff, Dilemma Glacier, Ant Hill Glacier below Ant Hill, and Mason Glacier below Bareface Bluff. Between Moraine Bluff and Red Dike Bluff to the east it is joined by Trepidation Glacier. It flows south past Alpha Bluff on Shults Peninsula to the east. It enters the Ross Ice Shelf to the east of Evteev Glacier. Cape Timberlake and Teall Island are to the west of the mouth. Fishtail Point at the end of Shults Peninsula lies to the east of the mouth.
Features of the névé that forms the head of the glacier, and its surroundings:
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Skelton Glacier
Skelton Glacier (78°35′S 161°30′E / 78.583°S 161.500°E) is a large glacier flowing from the polar plateau into the Ross Ice Shelf at Skelton Inlet on the Hillary Coast, south of Victoria Land, Antarctica.
Skelton Glacier was named after the Skelton Inlet by the New Zealand party of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE), 1956–58. The glacier was chosen in 1957 as the New Zealand party's route from the Ross Ice Shelf to the Antarctic Plateau. The Arctic Institute of North America organized two ground traverses in the antarctic summer of 1959–60 sponsored by the United States Antarctic Research Program. The first left New Zealand's Scott Base on 16 October 1959, crossed part of the Ross Ice Shelf, and on 27 October 1959 reached the foot of the Skelton Glacier. They traversed up the heavily crevassed glacier to a fuel cache deposited on the edge of the Victoria Land plateau by planes of the United States Navy and Air Force. From there they travelled more than 600 miles (970 km) to the end station of the French 1958–59 traverse, then east toward the head of Tucker Glacier.
The Skelton Glacier flows from the high plateau of Victoria Land down to the west edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. It separates the Worcester Range and the Royal Society Range of the Great Antarctic Horst (Transantarctic Mountains). The elevation in the upper névé field is over 2,300 metres (7,500 ft), falling to 84 metres (276 ft) above sea level near Teall Island at its mouth on the Ross Ice Shelf. The west and east sections of the upper glacier are fed by névé fields separated by the Névé Nunatak, Halfway Nunatak and Clinker Bluff. The glacier is also fed by short and steep glaciers from the Worcester Range and Royal Society Range.
Across the mouth, on a line from Teall Island to Fishtail Point, ice thickness varies from 490 to 600 metres (1,610 to 1,970 ft), with very little of the ice grounded. The ocean floor depth along this line varies from 837 to 1,592 metres (2,746 to 5,223 ft) below sea level. Based on 1958–59 measurements of the ice profile and velocity on this line, an estimated equivalent of 712,000,000 cubic metres (2.51×1010 cu ft) of water is delivered to the Ross Ice Shelf. A 1961 study of ice movement on the Skelton Glacier estimated that the Skelton névé field and the small cirque glaciers accumulate equivalent of 1,018,000,000 cubic metres (3.60×1010 cu ft) of water per year, but assuming no more than 30% of this is lost to katabatic winds, it would seem that little or none of the ice delivered to the Ross Ice Shelf comes from the high Antarctic Plateau.
A study of ice-surface lowering in the upper Skelton Glacier was published in 2020. It concluded that ice surface lowering of the glacier was caused by the retreat of grounded ice in the Ross Sea, which reduced buttressing and drew down the glacier into the Ross Sea. Most of the lowering since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) occurred between 15,000 and 6,000 years ago. At Escalade Peak in the upper Skelton valley, far from the mouth, the ice surface was at least 50 metres (160 ft) and possibly more than 120 metres (390 ft) higher in LGM than today. These ice elevation changes in a slow-flowing upvalley glacier are several hundred meters less than previous models predicted, which mainly focussed on elevation changes at the glacier mouths.
Skelton Glacier rises in the Skelton Névé, which is fed by The Portal and the Skelton Icefalls from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The névé lies to the east of the Boomerang Range, north of Escalade Peak and south of Portal Mountain. Scattered nunataks in the névé include Icefall Nunatak, Mount Metschel, Névé Nunatak, Halfway Nunatak, Swartz Nunataks and Clem Nunatak. The Skelton Glacier flows south from the southeast of the névé. The east of the névé feeds the Upper Staircase, The Landing and the Lower Staircase. Lower Staircase flows past Twin Rocks and is fed from the north past Stepaside Spur by Rutgers Glacier, Allison Glacier and Dale Glacier. Further south it is fed from the east from the Royal Society Range by Potter Glacier and Wirdnam Glacier.
The Lower Staircase joins Skelton Glacier past Clinker Bluff, flowing past Mount Tricouni and Hobnail Peak, below which Skelton Glacier is joined from the east by Baronick Glacier and Cocks Glacier. Skelton Glacier flows south along the west side of the Worcester Range, from which it is joined by Delta Glacier below Delta Bluff, Dilemma Glacier, Ant Hill Glacier below Ant Hill, and Mason Glacier below Bareface Bluff. Between Moraine Bluff and Red Dike Bluff to the east it is joined by Trepidation Glacier. It flows south past Alpha Bluff on Shults Peninsula to the east. It enters the Ross Ice Shelf to the east of Evteev Glacier. Cape Timberlake and Teall Island are to the west of the mouth. Fishtail Point at the end of Shults Peninsula lies to the east of the mouth.
Features of the névé that forms the head of the glacier, and its surroundings: