Branscomb Glacier | |
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Location of Branscomb Glacier in Antarctica | |
Type | tributary |
Location | Ellsworth Land |
Coordinates | 78°32′S 86°05′W / 78.533°S 86.083°W |
Length | 6 nmi (11 km; 7 mi) |
Thickness | unknown |
Terminus | Nimitz Glacier |
Status | unknown |
The Branscomb Glacier (78°32′S 86°05′W / 78.533°S 86.083°W) is an Antarctic glacier, 11 nautical miles (20 km; 13 mi) long, flowing west from the north-west side of Vinson Massif (the highest point in Antarctica) into Nimitz Glacier, in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. Its upper course receives ice influx from both Goodge Col and Jacobsen Valley, while the tributary Roché Glacier joins Branscomb Glacier just northwest of Príncipe de Asturias Peak. Branscomb Glacier has been the focus of scientific research expeditions aimed at studying glaciology, ice dynamics, and climate change in Antarctica.
The glacier was mapped by the USGS from surveys and USN aerial photographs between 1957 and 1960. It was named by US-ACAN after Lewis M. Branscomb, Chairman of the National Science Board from 1982 to 1984.