
Aerial view of the Beardmore Glacier in 1956.
The 'Beardmore Glacier' () in
Antarctica is one of the largest
glaciers in the world, with a length exceeding 160 km (100 mi). The glacier is one of the main passages from the
Ross Ice Shelf through the
Queen Alexandra and
Commonwealth ranges of the
Transantarctic Mountains to the
Antarctic Plateau, and was one of the early routes to the
South Pole.
The glacier was discovered by
Ernest Shackleton during his
Nimrod Antarctic expedition of
1908. Although Shackleton turned back before reaching the South Pole, he had discovered the first proven route to the pole, and in doing so, became the first person to set foot upon the great polar plateau. In
1911-
1912,
Captain Scott and his team successfully reached the South Pole by climbing the Beardmore. However, they reached the pole a month after
Roald Amundsen and his team, who had climbed the previously unknown
Axel Heiberg Glacier.
Beardmore Glacier is named after
Sir William Beardmore, a
Scottish industrialist and expedition sponsor born in
1856.
See also
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List of glaciers
References
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