The Erebus Glacier Tongue is a mountain outlet glacier and the seaward extension of Erebus Glacier from Ross Island. It projects 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) into McMurdo Sound from the Ross Island coastline near Cape Evans, Antarctica. The glacier tongue varies in thickness from 50 metres (160 ft) at the snout to 300 metres (980 ft) at the point where it is grounded on the shoreline.[1] Explorers from Robert F. Scott's Discovery Expedition (1901–1904) named and charted the glacier tongue.[2]
Erebus Glacier Tongue is about 10 metres (33 ft) high and is centred upon 77.6 degrees south latitude, 166.75 degrees east longitude.[3] The portion of the glacier tongue extending beyond the shoreline or grounding line floats upon the water.
Ice tongues emerge when a glacier ice stream flows rapidly (relative to surrounding ice) into the sea or a lake, usually in a protected area. For instance, Capes Evans and Royds extending from Ross Island protect the Erebus Glacier Tongue from the open waters of the Ross Sea. Hut Point Peninsula to the south helps deflect icebergs propelled by prevailing southerly winds.
The long, narrow Erebus ice stream drains from the western slope of Mount Erebus, an active volcano rising 3,794 metres (12,448 ft) in elevation. The mountain constantly replenishes the glacial ice stream, as annual snow fall exceeds annual snow melt. The Erebus Glacier Tongue is a dynamic structure subject to a host of internal and external stresses which affect its shape, size, and durability.[4]
- ^ "Calving of Erebus Glacier Tongue, Nature Magazine. August 16, 1990.
- ^ Australian Antarctic Data Centre Archived 2007-09-26 at the Wayback Machine, Antarctic Gazetteer Name Details.
- ^ “Erebus Ice Tongue,” Archived 2011-05-15 at the Wayback Machine NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. Undated.
- ^ Pyne, Stephen J. The Ice: A Journey to Antarctica. Originally published by the University of Iowa Press, 1986.