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| Drygalski Ice Tongue | |
|---|---|
| Name | Drygalski Ice Tongue |
| Type | Ice tongue |
| Location | Victoria Land, Ross Sea, Antarctica |
| Coordinates | 73°S 165°E |
| Length | ~70 km (varies) |
Drygalski Ice Tongue is a prominent floating extension of a glacier projecting into the Ross Sea from the coast of Victoria Land in Antarctica. The feature forms a narrow, elongate platform of ice connected to the continental Antarctic Plateau and is a notable landmark for expeditions, mapping, and scientific stations such as McMurdo Station and Scott Base. Its dynamics influence regional ice shelf interactions, sea ice formation, and oceanographic conditions in the Southern Ocean near the Ross Ice Shelf.
The ice tongue extends seaward from the grounded terminus adjacent to the David Glacier and reaches into waters bounded by the Victoria Land Coast and the open Ross Sea pack. Satellite missions including Landsat, MODIS, ICESat, Sentinel-1, and CryoSat-2 have measured its surface elevation, draft, and areal extent, documenting seasonal and interannual variability. The structure exhibits extensive crevassing, rifting, and occasional calving events; these processes are influenced by local sea-surface temperature fields tracked by NOAA and ARGO floats and by ocean circulation patterns linked to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the Ross Gyre. Bathymetric surveys by British Antarctic Survey and United States Geological Survey teams reveal seabed morphology that affects basal melting, with influences from polynyas monitored by NASA and European Space Agency programs.
The ice tongue originates as part of a fast-flowing outlet of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet fed by accumulations on the Antarctic Plateau and tributaries around the Transantarctic Mountains. Ice-flow studies employing ground-penetrating radar, GPS, and remote-sensing velocity fields from Copernicus operations show longitudinal stretching, basal sliding, and grounding-line migration phenomena familiar from studies of the Pine Island Glacier, Thwaites Glacier, and Beardmore Glacier. Thermomechanical models developed by groups at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, and British Antarctic Survey simulate firn densification, englacial temperature profiles, and calving mechanics similar to those analyzed for the Larsen Ice Shelf, Amery Ice Shelf, and Ross Ice Shelf. Paleoclimate reconstructions using ice cores compared with cores from Dome C and Vostok Station inform accumulation rates and past stability of the feeding catchment.
European charting of the coast was advanced by 19th- and early 20th-century expeditions including teams led by Ernest Shackleton, Robert Falcon Scott, and James Clark Ross, with subsequent detailed surveys by Douglas Mawson and later by Edmund Hillary-era logistics supporting Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. The feature was named during polar exploration and scientific mapping efforts honoring figures connected to Antarctic research traditions, in the era alongside naming of features such as Mount Erebus, Cape Adare, and McMurdo Sound. Cartographic records produced by Royal Geographical Society, Scott Polar Research Institute, and USGS have preserved navigational and toponymic decisions used by mariners including crews of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror-descendant research ships and icebreakers like RV Nathaniel B. Palmer.
Long-term monitoring programs from institutions such as National Science Foundation, Australian Antarctic Division, NIWA, and US Antarctic Program integrate airborne surveys from Operation IceBridge, moored oceanographic instruments deployed by WHOI teams, and autonomous platforms including gliders and Argo floats. Studies published in journals like Nature, Science, Journal of Glaciology, and Geophysical Research Letters examine basal melt rates, structural integrity, and responses to warming events comparable to research on the Antarctic Peninsula and Ross Ice Shelf. Collaborative projects linking IPCC assessments, SCAR working groups, and national polar programs address sea-level projections affected by mass loss from outlet systems including the ice tongue’s catchment, informed by satellite altimetry from TOPEX/Poseidon successors and gravity observations from GRACE and GRACE-FO.
The ice tongue shapes coastal marine ecosystems in the Ross Sea by influencing polynya formation and nutrient upwelling that support primary producers observed by researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Krill populations studied by CCAMLR scientists, as well as predators such as Emperor penguin, Adélie penguin, Weddell seal, and leopard seal, show distribution patterns tied to sea-ice extent and fast-ice conditions near the ice tongue, paralleling ecological work in McMurdo Sound and Ross Island. Microbial communities in cryoconite and sub-ice environments have been sampled by teams affiliated with University of Cambridge, University of Tasmania, and Columbia University to assess biogeochemical cycling and responses to climate-driven habitat shifts.
Access to the ice tongue area is primarily via logistical hubs including McMurdo Station (United States), Scott Base (New Zealand), and seasonal operations by Antarctic logistics providers using icebreakers such as USCGC Polar Star and aircraft including LC-130 Hercules ski-equipped transports. Scientific field campaigns are coordinated under Antarctic Treaty System governance and environmental protocols enforced by consultative parties such as New Zealand, United States, and Australia. Tourism and shipping in the greater Ross Sea region are regulated through International Maritime Organization guidelines and measures recommended by IAATO and conservation initiatives tied to Ross Sea Marine Protected Area discussions, while emergency response and search-and-rescue planning involve cooperation with organizations like COMNAP and national polar programs.
Category:Ice tongues of Antarctica Category:Geography of Victoria Land