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The Amery Ice Shelf and its hinterland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

Malcolm Mellor
Affiliation:
Research Fellow, Meteorology Department, University of Melbourne, and formerly A.N.A.R.E. Glaciologist
Graeme McKinnon
Affiliation:
Geographical Officer, Antarctic Division, Department of External Affairs, Melbourne, Australia.

Extract

During the thirty years since the Amery Ice Shelf was first sighted there has been a steady accumulation of information, first on the ice shelf itself and later on the interesting mountains and glacier systems which lie to its south. The ice shelf occupies the head of a large embayment consisting of Prydz Bay and Mackenzie Bay, which deeply indents the coastline of the Antarctic mainland near the borders of MacRobertson Land and Princess Elizabeth Land. An associated valley runs south from the bay, between the Prince Charles Mountains and the Mawson Escarpment, and it is occupied by one of the world's largest valley glaciers, the Lambert Glacier. (In fact, recent findings by Soviet parties suggest that the Lambert Glacier is considerably longer than the Beardmore Glacier.) The exploration, survey and subsequent mapping of the ice shelf, and the mountains and glaciers of its hinterland, by Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions in recent years has been a major contribution to Antarctic geography.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1960

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