
71°S 70°E / 71°S 70°E / -71; 70
El glaciar Lambert es un glaciar importante en la Antártida Oriental . Con aproximadamente 96 km (60 millas) de ancho, más de 435 km (270 millas) de largo y unos 2500 m (8200 pies) de profundidad, es el glaciar más grande del mundo. Drena el 8% de la capa de hielo antártica al este y al sur de las montañas Príncipe Carlos y fluye hacia el norte hasta la plataforma de hielo Amery . [ 1 ] Fluye en parte del Graben Lambert y sale del continente en la bahía Prydz .
Este glaciar fue delimitado y nombrado en 1952 por el geógrafo estadounidense John H. Roscoe, quien realizó un estudio detallado de esta zona a partir de fotografías aéreas tomadas por la Operación Highjump entre 1946 y 1947. Le dio el nombre de "Glaciar Baker Three", utilizando el nombre en clave del avión fotográfico de la Armada y su tripulación que realizaron tres vuelos en esta zona costera en marzo de 1947, lo que dio lugar a descubrimientos geográficos. El glaciar fue descrito en el Gazetteer n.º 14, Nombres geográficos de la Antártida ( Junta de Nombres Geográficos de EE. UU. , 1956), pero la formación no apareció de inmediato en los mapas publicados. Como resultado, el nombre Glaciar Lambert, aplicado por el Comité de Nombres Antárticos de Australia (ANCA) en 1957 tras la cartografía de la zona realizada por las Expediciones Nacionales Australianas de Investigación Antártica (ANARE) en 1956, se ha establecido para esta formación. Recibió su nombre en honor a Bruce P. Lambert, Director de Cartografía Nacional del Departamento de Desarrollo Nacional de Australia. [ 2 ]
Afluentes
Glaciar Fisher
Un afluente occidental prominente del glaciar Lambert, de aproximadamente 100 millas náuticas (190 km; 120 millas) de longitud, fluye hacia el este pasando por las laderas norte del monte Menzies y el monte Rubin y uniéndose al cauce principal del glaciar Lambert justo al este del monte Stinear. Fue avistado desde una aeronave de ANARE por KB Mather en 1957 y fue nombrado por ANCA en honor a NH Fisher, geólogo jefe de la Oficina de Recursos Minerales del Departamento de Desarrollo Nacional de Australia . [ 3 ]
Glaciar Geysen
A large tributary to the Fisher Glacier, flowing northeast between Mount Bayliss and Mount Ruker. It was plotted from air photos taken by ANARE in 1956 and 1957, and was named by ANCA for Hendrik Geysen, officer in charge of Mawson Station, 1960.[4]
Mellor Glacier
A tributary glacier, flowing north-northeast between Mount Newton and Mount Maguire and coalescing with Collins Glacier just prior to its junction with Lambert Glacier at Patrick Point. It was mapped from air photos taken by ANARE in 1956, and was named by ANCA after English-born glaciologist Malcolm Mellor (1933–91), who worked at Mawson Station in 1957, and as an engineer with the U.S. Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory from 1961 to 1991.[5]
Collins Glacier
73°41′S65°55′E / 73.683°S 65.917°E / -73.683; 65.917. A glacier about 11 nautical miles (20 km) wide at its confluence with the Mellor Glacier, which it feeds from the southwest, located north of Mount Newton. It was mapped by ANARE from air photos taken in 1956 and 1960, and named by ANCA for Neville Joseph Collins, senior diesel mechanic at Mawson Station, 1960.[6]
Arriens Glacier
73°27′48″S68°24′1″E / 73.46333°S 68.40028°E / -73.46333; 68.40028. A small glacier, south of Casey Point flowing west to reach Lambert Glacier. It was plotted from ANARE aerial photographs taken in 1956, 1960 and 1973, and named by ANCA after P. Arriens, geochronologist with the ANARE Prince Charles Mountains survey party in 1973.
Other features
Seavers Nunataks
73°10′S61°58′E / 73.167°S 61.967°E / -73.167; 61.967. Two nunataks 16 nautical miles (30 km) west of Mount Scherger, near the head of Fisher Glacier. Mapped from ANARE air photos and surveys, 1958 and 1960–61. Named by ANCA) for J.A. Seavers, assistant cook at Mawson Station, a member of the ANARE field party in this area in 1961.
Mount Seddon
73°6′S65°0′E / 73.100°S 65.000°E / -73.100; 65.000. A mountain with two peaks separated by an ice-filled saddle, standing 20 nautical miles (37 km) west of Mount Stinear on the north side of Fisher Glacier. Discovered from ANARE aircraft in 1957. Named by ANCA for Norman R. Seddon, Managing Director of B.P. Australia Ltd. since 1957, in recognition of the assistance given to ANARE by the company.
Patrick Point
73°28′S66°51′E / 73.467°S 66.850°E / -73.467; 66.850. The northern point of Cumpston Massif, at the junction of Mellor and Lambert Glaciers. Mapped from air photos taken by ANARE in 1956. Named by ANCA for Patrick Albion, radio operator at Mawson Station, 1956.
Mount Newton
74°1′S65°30′E / 74.017°S 65.500°E / -74.017; 65.500. A large humped mountain with a boulder strewn surface and conical peak near the center, standing between flow of Collins and Mellor Glaciers. Mapped by ANARE from air photos taken in 1956. Named by ANCA for Dr. Geoff Newton, medical officer at Mawson Station, 1960.
Robertson Nunatak
71°54′S69°37′E / 71.900°S 69.617°E / -71.900; 69.617. A small nunatak 20 nautical miles (37 km) northeast of Clemence Massif on the east side of Lambert Glacier. It was photographed by ANARE in 1950, and was sighted and mapped by the ANARE Prince Charles Mountains surveys of 1969 and 1971. It was named by ANCA for M.J.M. Robertson, a geophysicist at Mawson Station in 1970, who took part in the ANARE Prince Charles Mountains survey in 1971.
Remote sensing

The glacier is important in the study of climate change because very small changes in the climate can have significant consequences for the flow of ice down the glacier.[7] Most studies of the Lambert Glacier are done with remote sensing due to the harsh conditions in the area.[8]
The photo reproduced here (on the right) shows a small tributary right-flank glacier flowing down from the lofty, ice-covered East Antarctic Plateau, flanked by slower-moving ice flowing down over a steep escarpment. The icefall which so impressively illustrates the flow characteristics of glacier ice is only about 6 km wide, and the Lambert Glacier proper is off the bottom right corner of the photo. The ice here is flowing at about 500 m per year, but velocities of over 1200 m per year are known at the edge of the Amery Ice Shelf, which is fed by this gigantic stream of ice.
On the lower photo north is at the bottom, and the ice velocities are approximate as follow:
- Brown areas—up to 50 m per year.
- Green areas—up to 250 m per year.
- Blue areas—up to 500 m per year.
- Purple areas—around 1000 m per year.
- Red area—up to 1200 m per year.
See also
References
- ↑ Tulloch, Coral (2003). Antártida: Corazón del mundo . Sídney: ABC Books. pág. 11. ISBN 0-7333-0912-7.
- ↑ "Glaciar Lambert" . Sistema de Información de Nombres Geográficos . Servicio Geológico de los Estados Unidos , Departamento del Interior de los Estados Unidos . Consultado el 24 de mayo de 2013 .
- ↑ Alberts 1995 , pág. 241.
- ↑ Alberts 1995 , pág. 276.
- ↑ Alberts 1995 , pág. 484.
- ↑ Alberts 1995 , pág. 145.
- ↑ Scott, Keith (1993). El libro de la Antártida de Australian Geographic . Terrey Hills, Nueva Gales del Sur: Australian Geographic. pág. 127. ISBN 1-86276-010-1.
- ↑ "Un glaciar antártico podría dar pistas sobre el cambio climático global" . ScienceDaily . 26 de junio de 2002. Consultado el 12 de agosto de 2009 .
- ↑ "Macizo de Clemence" . Sistema de Información de Nombres Geográficos . Servicio Geológico de los Estados Unidos , Departamento del Interior de los Estados Unidos . Consultado el 15 de noviembre de 2011 .
Fuentes
- Alberts, Fred G., ed. (1995), Nombres geográficos de la Antártida (PDF) (2.ª ed.), Junta de Nombres Geográficos de los Estados Unidos , consultado el 27 de diciembre de 2023.
Este artículo incorpora material de dominio público procedente de sitios web o documentos de la Junta de Nombres Geográficos de los Estados Unidos .
Este artículo incorpora material de dominio público del "Glaciar Lambert" . Sistema de Información de Nombres Geográficos . Servicio Geológico de los Estados Unidos .
- Glaciares de la Tierra de Mac. Robertson