48-557: Canyon Glacier ( 83°57′S 175°25′E / 83.950°S 175.417°E / -83.950; 175.417 ) is a narrow glacier, 35 nautical miles (65 km; 40 mi) long, flowing to the Ross Ice Shelf . It drains the northwest slopes of Mount Wexler and moves northward between steep canyon walls of the Separation Range and Hughes Range to join the ice shelf immediately west of Giovinco Ice Piedmont . The glacier
96-429: A Northwest Passage in 1818 aboard Isabella . Between 1819 and 1827 Ross took part in four Arctic expeditions under William Edward Parry , taking particular interest in magnetism and natural history. This was also where he served as midshipman with Francis Crozier , who would later become his close friend and second-in-command. From 1829 to 1833 Ross again served under his uncle on John's second Arctic voyage. It
144-484: A clear passage to their destination. But on 11 January, the men were faced with an enormous mass of ice. Sir James Clark Ross , the expedition's commander, remarked: "It was an obstruction of such character as to leave no doubt upon my mind as to our future proceedings, for we might with equal chance of success try to sail through the cliffs of Dover ". Ross, who in 1831 had located the North Magnetic Pole , spent
192-632: A further permanent station with the help of governor John Franklin before waiting for summer. Ross crossed the Antarctic Circle on 1 January 1841. Shortly after, he discovered the Ross Sea and Victoria Land , charting 900 km (560 mi) of new coastline, reaching Possession Island on 12 January and Franklin Island on 27 January (which Ross named after John Franklin ). He then reached Ross Island , later named after him by Robert F. Scott , with
240-582: A lecture entitled "Universitas Antarctica!" given 7 June 1911 and were published in the account of Scott's second expedition (the Terra Nova Expedition of 1910–1913). Ernest Shackleton 's southern party (Shackleton, Adams, Marshal, Wild) of the 1908 Nimrod expedition were the first humans to cross the Ice Shelf during its failed attempt to reach the South Pole . Both Roald Amundsen and Scott crossed
288-587: A lofty, arched ridge, which we took to be about 500 feet [150 m] high on the horizon. But it might be assumed that this ridge continued to rise beyond the range of vision". The next day, the party made its first steps on the Barrier. "After half an hour's march we were already at the first important point—the connection between the sea-ice and the Barrier. This connection had always haunted our brains. What would it be like? A high, perpendicular face of ice, up which we should have to haul our things laboriously with
336-498: A member of the support party at McMurdo Station, 1963. Ross Ice Shelf The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (as of 2013 , an area of roughly 500,809 square kilometres (193,363 sq mi) and about 800 kilometres (500 mi) across: about the size of France). It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than 600 kilometres (370 mi) long, and between 15 and 50 metres (50 and 160 ft) high above
384-465: A significant study of the shelf and its surroundings from his expedition's base on Ross Island . By measurement of calved ice bergs and their buoyancy, he estimated the ice sheet to be on average 274 meters thick; the undisturbed morphology of the ice sheet and its inverted temperature profile led him to conclude it was floating on water; and measurements in 1902–1903 showed it had advanced 555 meters northwards in 13.5 months. The findings were presented at
432-661: Is joined by the Cunningham Glacier from the left (west). It continues north past the Separation Range along its west side. At its mouth it passes the Nadeau Bluff and the Giovinco Ice Piedmont to the east and Mount Cope to its west. 84°16′S 173°45′E / 84.267°S 173.750°E / -84.267; 173.750 . A tributary glacier flowing northeast to enter Canyon Glacier 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) north of Gray Peak. Named by
480-466: The 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami . James Clark Ross Sir James Clark Ross DCL FRS FLS FRAS (15 April 1800 – 3 April 1862) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer of both the northern and southern polar regions. In the Arctic , he participated in two expeditions led by his uncle, John Ross , and in four led by William Edward Parry : in
528-819: The Antarctic , he led his his own expedition from 1839 to 1843. Ross was born in London, the son of George Ross and nephew of John Ross , under whom he entered the Royal Navy on 5 April 1812. Ross was an active participant in the Napoleonic Wars , being present at an action where HMS Briseis , commanded by his uncle, captured Le Petit Poucet (a French privateer) on 9 October 1812. Ross then served successively with his uncle on HMS Actaeon and HMS Driver . Ross participated in John's unsuccessful first Arctic voyage in search of
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#1733094296714576-693: The Antarctic Peninsula . The next winter, the expedition overwintered in the Falkland Islands before returning to survey the Antarctic Peninsula over the summer of 1842–1843. Ross attempted to penetrate south at about 55° W, and explored the eastern side of what is now known as James Ross Island , discovering and naming Snow Hill Island and Seymour Island . Ross reported that Admiralty Sound appeared to him to have been blocked by glaciers at its southern end. The expedition's main aim
624-646: The dip circle during the survey; anomalous results had been discovered by Ross in 1835 in Westbourne Green . In 1838, Ross completed magnetic observations at 12 different stations throughout Ireland. The survey was completed in 1838; some supplementary measurements by Robert Were Fox were also used. On 8 April 1839, Ross was given orders to command an expedition to Antarctica for the purposes of 'magnetic research and geographical discovery'. Between September 1839 and September 1843, Ross commanded HMS Erebus on his own Antarctic expedition and charted much of
672-529: The Great. Ross, played by British actor Richard Sutton , is a secondary character in the 2018 AMC television series The Terror , portrayed in a fictionalised version of his 1848 search for Franklin's lost expedition , as well as in the 2007 Dan Simmons novel on which the series is based. Ross is also mentioned continually by Jules Verne in his novel The Adventures of Captain Hatteras (for example, chapter XXV
720-474: The Ross Ice Shelf Project was launched with a plan of drilling into the shelf to sample the biomass in the area and make other determinations about the shelf and its relationship to the sea floor. This is believed to be the first oceanographic ice shelf borehole. The project included surface glaciological observations as well as drilling, and the glaciological portion started during the planning phase of
768-526: The United States Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) for Willard E. Cunningham, Jr., cook at McMurdo Station, winter 1960; at South Pole Station, winter 1963. 84°04′S 175°09′E / 84.067°S 175.150°E / -84.067; 175.150 . A mainly ice-covered bluff just southwest of Giovinco Ice Piedmont, protruding into Canyon Glacier from that glacier's east side. Named by US-ACAN for F. A. Nadeau, Jr.,
816-501: The analyses have resulted in some interesting theories being posited and publicized. One such opinion, given in 2006 based on a geological survey, suggested that the ice shelf had collapsed previously, perhaps suddenly, which could well happen again. A science team from New Zealand installed a camp in the centre of the shelf in late 2017. The expedition was led by glaciologist Christina Hulbe and brought together oceanographers, glaciologists, biologists and sedimentologists to examine
864-672: The continent's coastline. Captain Francis Crozier was second-in-command of the expedition, commanding HMS Terror , with senior lieutenant Archibald McMurdo . Support for the expedition had been arranged by Francis Beaufort , hydrographer of the Navy and a member of several scientific societies. On the expedition was gunner Thomas Abernethy and ship's surgeon Robert McCormick , as well as Joseph Dalton Hooker , who had been invited along as assistant ship's surgeon. Erebus and Terror were bomb vessels —an unusual type of warship named after
912-427: The drilling. The drilling portion of the project was to have begun during 1974, but the actual drilling was delayed until 1976. Finally, in 1977, the scientists were able to drill successfully through the ice, making a hole that could be sampled every few days for three weeks. The team was able to map the sea floor, study the tides, and assess the fish and various other forms of life in the waters. The team also examined
960-632: The gardens of the Abbey there is a lake with two islands, named after the ships Terror and Erebus . Ross remained an officer in the Royal Navy for the rest of his life and was subsequently promoted several times, his final rank being Rear-Admiral of the Red awarded in August 1861. Ross died at Aston Abbotts on 3 April 1862, five years after his wife. They are buried together in the parish churchyard of St. James
1008-553: The glaciers and others the valleys on the ice shelf. From 1967 to 1972 the Scott Polar Research Institute reported extensive observations using radio echo sounding . The technique allowed measurements to be taken from the air; allowing a criss cross track of 35,000 km to be covered; compared with a 3,000 km track from previous seismic sounding on the ground. More detailed surveys were executed between 1973 and 1978. A significant scientific endeavor called
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#17330942967141056-506: The glaciers' surfaces. Once their ice shelves are removed, the glaciers increase in speed due to meltwater percolation and/or a reduction of braking forces, and they may begin to dump more ice into the ocean than they gather as snow in their catchments. Glacier ice speed increases are already observed in Peninsula areas where ice shelves disintegrated in prior years." The Ross Ice Shelf is one of many such shelves. It reaches into Antarctica from
1104-602: The grounding line region of the Kamb Ice Stream . The hot water drill borehole at this site penetrated through over 500 m of snow and ice to an ocean cavity only 30 m deep at this location. As well as sampling the ocean and sediment, it was the first deployment beneath the Ross Ice Shelf of the Remotely operated underwater vehicle Icefin developed at Georgia Tech , a vehicle designed around parameters suitable for exploration of
1152-442: The help of tackles? Or a great and dangerous fissure, which we should not be able to cross without going a long way round? We naturally expected something of the sort. This mighty and terrible monster would, of course, offer resistance in some form or other," he wrote. "The mystic Barrier! All accounts without exception, from the days of Ross to the present time, had spoken of this remarkable natural formation with apprehensive awe. It
1200-422: The ice, ocean and sediment in the central shelf region. One of the key findings was that the ice in the region was re-freezing. This re-freezing and growth of an ice shelf is not uncommon but the Ross Ice Shelf situation appeared to be very variable as there was no evidence of long-term freezing. A recent study attribute this variability in-part to tidal mixing. A second New Zealand expedition in 2019 traveled to
1248-509: The liquid cavities of places like Europa . The same New Zealand team returned to another site along the Kamb coast in December 2021, this time drilling through an under-ice river that proved to be essentially oceanic. The team were able to melt through the ice to discover the 250 m deep river had formed a relatively narrow channel beneath the ice. They also recorded evidence of the tsunami generated by
1296-649: The mortar bombs they were designed to fire and constructed with extremely strong hulls, to withstand the recoil of the heavy weapons. The ships were selected for the Antarctic mission as being able to resist thick ice, as proved true in practice. En route to the Southern Ocean , Ross established magnetic measurement stations in Saint Helena , Cape Town , and Kerguelen before arriving in Hobart in early 1840 and establishing
1344-539: The next two years vainly searching for a sea passage to the South Pole; later, his name was given to the ice shelf and the sea surrounding it. Two volcanoes in the region were named by Ross for his vessels. For later Antarctic explorers seeking to reach the South Pole, the Ross Ice Shelf became a starting area. In a first exploration of the area by the Discovery Expedition in 1901–1904, Robert Falcon Scott made
1392-448: The north, and covers an area of about 520,000 km (200,000 sq mi), nearly the size of France. The ice mass is about 800 km (500 mi) wide and 970 km (600 mi) long. In some places, namely its southern areas, the ice shelf can be almost 750 m (2,450 ft) thick. The Ross Ice Shelf pushes out into the sea at between 1.5 and 3 m (5 and 10 ft) a day. Other glaciers gradually add bulk to it. At
1440-408: The northeast tip of Somerset Island where he was frozen in at Port Leopold . In the spring, he and Leopold McClintock explored the west coast of the island by sledge. He recognized Peel Sound but thought it too ice-choked for Franklin to have used it. In fact, Franklin had used it in 1846 when the extent of sea ice had been atypically low. The next summer he tried to reach Wellington Channel but
1488-411: The oceanographic and geological conditions as well as the temperature of the ice. They estimated that the base of the shelf was −2.16 °C (27.3 °F). They also made other calculations about the fluctuations of the temperatures. The results of these various projects were published in a series of reports in the 2 February 1979 issue of Science . During the 1980s, a network of weather stations
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1536-473: The same time, the freezing of seawater below the ice mass increases the thickness of the ice from 40 to 50 cm (16 to 20 in) . Sometimes, fissures and cracks may cause part of the shelf to break off; the largest known is about 31,000 km (12,000 sq mi), that is, slightly larger than Belgium. Iceberg B-15 , the world's largest recorded iceberg , was calved from the Ross Ice Shelf during March 2000. Scientists have long been intrigued by
1584-414: The shelf and its composition. Many scientific teams researching the Antarctic have made camps on or adjacent to the Ross Ice Shelf. This includes McMurdo Station , built next to the Ross Ice Shelf on volcanic rock. One major effort was a series of studies conducted in 1957 and 1958, which were continued during the 1960–61 season. The efforts involved an international team of scientists. Some parties explored
1632-572: The shelf is "only a few degrees too cool in summer presently to undergo the same kind of retreat process. The Ross Ice Shelf is the main outlet for several major glaciers draining the West Antarctic Ice Sheet , which contains the equivalent of 5 m of sea level rise in its above-sea-level ice." The report added that observations of "iceberg calving " on the Ross Ice Shelf are, in their opinion, unrelated to its stability. Scientific exploration continues to uncover interesting information and
1680-502: The shelf to reach the Pole in 1911. Amundsen wrote: "Along its outer edge the Barrier shows an even, flat surface; but here, inside the bay, the conditions were entirely different. Even from the deck of the Fram we were able to observe great disturbances of the surface in every direction; huge ridges with hollows between them extended on all sides. The greatest elevation lay to the south in the form of
1728-609: The volcanoes Mount Erebus and Mount Terror , which were named for the expedition's vessels. They sailed for 250 nautical miles (460 km) along the edge of the low, flat-topped ice shelf they called variously the Barrier or the Great Ice Barrier, later named the Ross Ice Shelf in his honour. After being forced to overwinter in Tasmania , Ross returned to the Ross Sea in December 1841 before travelling east past Marie Byrd Land to
1776-466: The water surface. Ninety percent of the floating ice, however, is below the water surface. Most of the Ross Ice Shelf is in the Ross Dependency claimed by New Zealand. It floats in, and covers, a large southern portion of the Ross Sea and the entire Roosevelt Island located in the east of the Ross Sea. The ice shelf is named after Sir James Clark Ross , who discovered it on 28 January 1841. It
1824-427: Was as though one could always read between the lines the same sentence: 'Hush, be quiet! the mystic Barrier!' "One, two, three, and a little jump, and the Barrier was surmounted!" Ice shelves are thick plates of ice, formed continuously by glaciers, that float atop an ocean. The shelves act as "brakes" for the glaciers. These shelves serve another important purpose—"they moderate the amount of melting that occurs on
1872-595: Was blocked by ice and returned to England. Ultimately every member of Franklin's expedition perished. Ross married Ann Coulman in 1843. They had four children: James, Anne, Thomas and Andrew. A blue plaque marks Ross's home in Eliot Place, Blackheath, London . His closest friend was Francis Crozier, with whom he sailed many times. He also lived in the ancient House of the Abbots of St. Albans in Buckinghamshire . In
1920-731: Was during this trip that a small party led by James Ross (including Thomas Abernethy ) located the position of the north magnetic pole on 1 June 1831, on the Boothia Peninsula in the far north of Canada, and James Ross personally planted the British flag at the pole. It was on this trip, too, that Ross charted the Beaufort Islands, later renamed Clarence Islands by his uncle. Ross then served as supernumerary-commander of HMS Victory in Portsmouth for 12 months. On 28 October 1834 Ross
1968-401: Was installed to record temperatures on the shelf and throughout the more remote parts of the continent. University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center has been studying ice shelves and, in 2002, announced that, based on several breakups of ice shelves, including Larsen B, has begun to reassess their stability. Their scientists stated that the temperature of the warmest portion of
Canyon Glacier - Misplaced Pages Continue
2016-596: Was observed from nearby Mount Patrick by the New Zealand Alpine Club Antarctic Expedition (1959–60) who gave the descriptive name. The Canyon Glacier rises to the north of the Pain Névé , below Mount Wexler in the Hughes Range to the east. The Commonwealth Range is to the west, including Mount Hermanson and Gray Peak , which overlook the upper reaches. The Canyon Glacier flows north and
2064-410: Was originally called "The Barrier", with various adjectives including " Great Ice Barrier ", as it prevented sailing further south. Ross mapped the ice front eastward to 160° W. In 1947, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names applied the name "Ross Shelf Ice" to this feature and published it in the original U.S. Antarctic Gazetteer. In January 1953, the name was changed to "Ross Ice Shelf"; that name
2112-691: Was probably crushed in the ice in December 1835. He returned to Hull in September 1836 with all his crew in good health. From 1835 to 1839, except for his voyage with Cove, he was one of the principal participants in the British Magnetic Survey, a magnetic survey of Great Britain , with Edward Sabine , John Phillips and Humphrey Lloyd . This also included some work on geomagnetic measurements in Ireland in 1834–1835, working with Sabine and Lloyd. In 1837, Ross assisted in T. C. Robinson's improvement of
2160-695: Was promoted to captain. In December 1835 he offered his services to the Admiralty to resupply 11 whaling ships which had become trapped in Baffin Bay . They accepted his offer, and he set sail in HMS Cove in January 1836. The crossing was difficult, and by the time he had reached the last known position of the whalers in June, all but one had managed to return home. Ross found no trace of this last vessel, William Torr , which
2208-678: Was published in 1956. On 5 January 1841, the British Admiralty's Ross expedition in the Erebus and the Terror , three- masted ships with specially strengthened wooden hulls , was going through the pack ice of the Pacific near Antarctica in an attempt to determine the position of the South Magnetic Pole. Four days later, they found their way into open water and were hoping that they would have
2256-572: Was sent on one of three expeditions to find John Franklin. Franklin's second in command was Ross's close friend Francis Crozier. The other expeditions sent to find Franklin were the Rae–Richardson Arctic expedition and the expedition aboard HMS Plover and HMS Herald through the Bering Strait . He was given command of HMS Enterprise , accompanied by HMS Investigator . Because of heavy ice in Baffin Bay he only reached
2304-594: Was to find the position of the south magnetic pole . While Ross failed to reach the pole, he was able to determine its location. The expedition also produced the first accurate magnetic maps of the Antarctic. Ross's ships arrived back in England on 4 September 1843. He was awarded the Grande Médaille d'Or des Explorations in 1843, knighted in 1844, and elected to the Royal Society in 1848. On 31 January 1848, Ross
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