Douglas Glacier (New Zealand)

Last updated

The Douglas Glacier is a glacier in New Zealand's Southern Alps located between Mount Sefton and Mount Brunner. [1] It is named after the explorer Charles Edward Douglas. [2]

Glacier Persistent body of ice that is moving under its own weight

A glacier is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight; it forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. Glaciers slowly deform and flow due to stresses induced by their weight, creating crevasses, seracs, and other distinguishing features. They also abrade rock and debris from their substrate to create landforms such as cirques and moraines. Glaciers form only on land and are distinct from the much thinner sea ice and lake ice that form on the surface of bodies of water.

Mount Sefton

Mount Sefton is a mountain in the Aroarokaehe Range of the Southern Alps of New Zealand, just 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of Aoraki / Mount Cook. To the south lies Mount Brunner, and to the north The Footstool, both more than 400 metres (1,300 ft) shorter.

The glacier sits in a valley and is fed by materials consisting of many streams and frequent avalanches which drop from its névé down a cliff face of over 1,000 feet. [1] The glacier itself was approximately 5 miles long in 1908. [1] The glacier has a relatively high rate of moraine materials, consisting of "friable phyllites and schistose grauwackes". [1]

Avalanch Spanish heavy/ progressive metal band

Avalanch is a Spanish heavy metal band formed in Asturias in 1993.

Névé young, granular type of snow

Névé is a young, granular type of snow which has been partially melted, refrozen and compacted, yet precedes the form of ice. This type of snow is associated with glacier formation through the process of nivation. Névé that survives a full season of ablation turns into firn, which is both older and slightly denser. Firn eventually becomes glacial ice – the long-lived, compacted ice that glaciers are composed of. Glacier formation can take days to years depending on freeze-thaw factors. Névé is annually observed in skiing slopes, and is generally disliked as an icy falling zone.

Moraine Glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated debris

A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions on Earth, through geomorphological processes. Moraines are formed from debris previously carried along by a glacier and normally consisting of somewhat rounded particles ranging in size from large boulders to minute glacial flour. Lateral moraines are formed at the side of the ice flow and terminal moraines at the foot, marking the maximum advance of the glacier. Other types of moraine include ground moraines, till-covered areas with irregular topography, and medial moraines which are formed where two glaciers meet.

At the foot of the glacier is a lake that was created by glacier recession. [3] Reports from 1892 and 1934 indicated it had "an anomalously slow lake development". [4] The Douglas River (formerly known as the Twain) begins in the lake at the foot of the glacier. [1]

The Douglas River, formerly known as the Twain, is a river of the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Its source is high in the Southern Alps, five kilometres south of Mount Sefton, and its upper reaches are fed by water from the Douglas Glacier. It flows west for 18 kilometres, joined by runoff from the Horace Walker Glacier, before joining the waters of the Karangarua River. The Douglas River's entire course is within Westland Tai Poutini National Park. The river and glacier are named after Charles Edward Douglas, a 19th-century explorer and mountaineer.

Related Research Articles

Aoraki / Mount Cook Mountain in the Southern Alps of New Zealand

Aoraki / Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Its height since 2014 is listed as 3,724 metres, down from 3,764 m (12,349 ft) before December 1991, due to a rockslide and subsequent erosion. It lies in the Southern Alps, the mountain range which runs the length of the South Island. A popular tourist destination, it is also a favourite challenge for mountain climbers. Aoraki / Mount Cook consists of three summits, from South to North the Low Peak, Middle Peak and High Peak. The summits lie slightly south and east of the main divide of the Southern Alps, with the Tasman Glacier to the east and the Hooker Glacier to the southwest.

Southern Alps mountain range on the South Island in New Zealand

The Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The name "Southern Alps" generally refers to the entire range, although separate names are given to many of the smaller ranges that form part of it.

Mount Erebus volcano on Ross Island, Antarctica

Mount Erebus is the second-highest volcano in Antarctica and the southernmost active volcano on Earth. It is the sixth-highest ultra mountain on the continent. With a summit elevation of 3,794 metres (12,448 ft), it is located in the Ross Dependency on Ross Island, which is also home to three inactive volcanoes: Mount Terror, Mount Bird, and Mount Terra Nova.

Alaska Range mountain range of the North American Cordillera in Alaska, USA and Yukon, Canada

The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 650-km-long (400 mi) mountain range in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest end to the White River in Canada's Yukon Territory in the southeast. The highest mountain in North America, Denali, is in the Alaska Range. It is part of the American Cordillera.

Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park Park in New Zealand

Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park is in the South Island of New Zealand, near the town of Twizel. Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain, and Aoraki/Mount Cook Village lie within the park. The area was gazetted as a national park in October 1953 and consists of reserves that were established as early as 1887 to protect the area's significant vegetation and landscape.

Mount Tongariro mountain

Mount Tongariro is a compound volcano in the Taupo Volcanic Zone of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the southwest of Lake Taupo, and is the northernmost of the three active volcanoes that dominate the landscape of the central North Island.

Godley River river of New Zealand

The Godley River is an alpine braided river flowing through Canterbury, in New Zealand's South Island.

Mueller Glacier

The Mueller Glacier is a 13-kilometre (8.1 mi) long glacier flowing through Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park in the South Island of New Zealand. It lies to the south of Aoraki/Mount Cook, high in the Southern Alps, and flows north. Its meltwaters eventually join the Tasman River.

Murchison River (New Zealand) river in New Zealand

The Murchison River lies within the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park in the South Island of New Zealand.

Usarp Mountains

The Usarp Mountains is a major Antarctic mountain range, lying westward of the Rennick Glacier and trending N-S for about 190 kilometres (118 mi). The feature is bounded to the north by Pryor Glacier and the Wilson Hills. Its important constituent parts include Welcome Mountain, Mount Van der Hoeven, Mount Weihaupt, Mount Stuart, Mount Lorius, Smith Bench, Mount Roberts, Pomerantz Tableland, Daniels Range, Emlen Peaks, Helliwell Hills and Morozumi Range.

Mackenzie District Territorial authority in South Island / Te Waipounamu, New Zealand

Mackenzie District is a local government district in New Zealand's South Island administered by the Mackenzie District Council. It is part of the larger Canterbury region.

Martin Glacier is a glacier, 3 nautical miles (6 km) wide and 9 nautical miles (17 km) long, which flows west and then northwest from the south side of Mount Lupa to the southeast corner of Rymill Bay where it joins Bertrand Ice Piedmont, on the west coast of Graham Land, Antarctica. It was first surveyed in 1936 by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) under John Riddoch Rymill, and was resurveyed in 1948–1949 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey. The glacier was named for James H. Martin, a member of the British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (1929–1931) under Sir Douglas Mawson, and first mate of the Penola during the BGLE.

Borchgrevink Glacier glacier in Antarctica

Borchgrevink Glacier is a large glacier in the Victory Mountains, Victoria Land, draining south between Malta Plateau and Daniell Peninsula, and thence projecting into Glacier Strait, Ross Sea, as a floating glacier tongue, the Borchgrevink Glacier Tongue, just south of Cape Jones. It was named by the New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition, 1957–58, for Carsten Borchgrevink, leader of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1898–1900. Borchgrevink visited the area in February 1900 and first observed the seaward portion of the glacier.

Glacier Peak Wilderness Wilderness area in the central Cascades of Washington state

Glacier Peak Wilderness is a 566,057-acre (229,075 ha), 35-mile-long (56 km), 20-mile-wide (32 km) wilderness area located within portions of Chelan, Snohomish, and Skagit counties in the North Cascades of Washington. The area lies within parts of Wenatchee National Forest and Mount Baker National Forest and is characterized by heavily forested stream courses, steep-sided valleys, and dramatic glacier-crowned peaks. The dominant geologic feature of the area is 10,541-foot (3,213 m) Glacier Peak. It is the most remote major volcanic peak in the Cascade Range and has more active glaciers than any other place in the lower forty-eight states. Glacier Peak is a volcanic cone of basalt, pumice, and ash which erupted during periods of heavy glaciation.

Mount Crillon mountain in United States of America

Mount Crillon is a high peak of the Fairweather Range, the southernmost part of the Saint Elias Mountains. It lies southeast of Mount Fairweather, in the promontory between the Gulf of Alaska and Glacier Bay. It is included in Glacier Bay National Park. The peak was named after Felix-Francois-Dorothee de Bretton, Comte de Crillon, by his friend, the French explorer Jean Francois de Galaup de la Perouse.

Abbot Pass hut building in Alberta, Canada

The Abbot Pass hut is an alpine hut located at an altitude of 2925 metres in Abbot Pass in the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. It is nestled between Mount Victoria and Mount Lefroy, straddling the continental divide, which, in this region, defines the boundary between Banff National Park in Alberta and Yoho National Park in British Columbia. While close to the border, the hut lies entirely in Banff National Park, and is the second-highest permanently habitable structure in Canada. The hut is maintained by the Alpine Club of Canada.

Le Couteur Glacier is a glacier, 15 nautical miles (28 km) long, which drains the northwest slopes of Mount Hall and Mount Daniel and flows north along the west side of the Lillie Range to the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. It was named by the Southern Party of the New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition (1963–64) for P. C. Le Couteur, a geologist with the New Zealand Federated Mountain Clubs Antarctic Expedition, 1962–63.

Canyon Glacier is a narrow glacier, 35 nautical miles (65 km) 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 was observed from nearby Mount Patrick by the New Zealand Alpine Club Antarctic Expedition (1959–60) who gave the descriptive name.

Charlie Douglas Explorer of the West Coast Region and Fiordland of New Zealand.

Charles (Charlie) Edward Douglas came to be known as Mr. Explorer Douglas owing to his extensive explorations of the West Coast Region of New Zealand and his work for the New Zealand Survey Department. Charlie Douglas was awarded the Royal Geographical Society Gill Memorial Prize in 1897.

Hooker Valley Track

The Hooker Valley Track is the most popular short walking track within the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park in New Zealand. At only 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) length and gaining only about 100 m (330 ft) in height, the well formed track can be walked by tourists with a wide range of level of fitness.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives of New Zealand. House of Representatives. 1908. pp. 295–.
  2. Bateman New Zealand Encyclopedia. D. Bateman. 1987. ISBN   9780908610211.
  3. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Otago Daily Times and Witness Newspapers Company. 1937.
  4. New Zealand Alpine Journal. New Zealand Alpine Club. 1995.

Coordinates: 43°41′S170°00′E / 43.68°S 170.00°E / -43.68; 170.00

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.