Fairchild Beach ( 53°4′S73°39′E / 53.067°S 73.650°E ) is a sandy beach, 0.32 nautical miles (0.6 km) wide and 1 nautical mile (2 km) long, which extends north from the base of Round Hill to the south side of the terminus of Compton Glacier, on the east side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. [1] The beach faces Compton Lagoon, and at its western edge communicates with the rocky Gilchrist Beach. To the south of Fairchild Beach is Brown Glacier, whose terminus is located at Brown Lagoon.
The name "Fairchild's Beach" was in use by American sealers as early as 1857, but the origin of the name is not known. [1]
The Mariner Glacier is a major glacier over 60 nautical miles long, descending southeast from the plateau of Victoria Land, Antarctica, between Mountaineer Range and Malta Plateau, and terminating at Lady Newnes Bay, Ross Sea, where it forms the floating Mariner Glacier Tongue.
Gilchrist Beach is a rocky beach, 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) long, lying west of Compton Glacier on the north side of Heard Island. At its eastern edge, Gilchrist Beach communicates with the sandy Fairchild Beach. Travelling eastwards from Gilchrist Beach to Fairchild Beach, one arrives at the base of Round Hill.
Baudissin Glacier is a tidewater glacier on the north side of Heard Island. in the southern Indian Ocean. Located 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) west of Challenger Glacier, Baudissin Glacier is 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) wide and flows into the western part of Corinthian Bay. The terminus of Baudissin Glacier is located at the western side of Corinthian Bay, at Sealers Cove. To the east of Baudissin Glacier is Challenger Glacier, whose terminus is located at the eastern side of Corinthian Bay, close west to Saddle Point. To the south of Baudissin Glacier is Schmidt Glacier, and to the northwest is Atlas Cove. Kildalkey Head is west of Schmidt Glacier. To the south of Schmidt Glacier is Vahsel Glacier, whose terminus is at South West Bay, between Erratic Point and Cape Gazert. Immediately south of Vahsel Glacier is Allison Glacier. Click here to see a map of Baudissin Glacier and the northwestern coast of Heard Island.
Brown Glacier is a glacier just south of Round Hill on the east side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. Its terminus is at Brown Lagoon. To the northwest of Brown Glacier is Compton Glacier, whose terminus is located at Compton Lagoon, between Gilchrist Beach and Fairchild Beach. To the southeast of Brown Glacier is Stephenson Glacier, whose terminus is located between Dovers Moraine and Stephenson Lagoon.
Challenger Glacier is a tidewater glacier on the north side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. Located 1 nautical mile (2 km) east of Baudissin Glacier, Challenger Glacier is 0.8 nautical miles (1.5 km) wide and flows into the eastern side of Corinthian Bay, close west to Saddle Point. To the east of Challenger Glacier is Downes Glacier, whose terminus is located at Mechanics Bay, between Saddle Point and Cape Bidlingmaier. To the west of Challenger Glacier is Baudissin Glacier, whose terminus is located at the western side of Corinthian Bay, near Sealers Cove.
Compton Glacier is a glacier, 3 nautical miles (6 km) long, flowing northeast from the lower slopes of the Big Ben massif to the northeast side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. Its terminus is located at Compton Lagoon, between Gilchrist Beach and Fairchild Beach. To the northwest of Compton Glacier is Ealey Glacier, whose terminus is located close southeast of Cape Bidlingmaier. To the southeast of Compton Glacier is Brown Glacier, whose terminus is located at Brown Lagoon. Round Hill separates Compton Glacier from Brown Glacier. Since the ANARE survey of 1947/48, the glacier has retreated significantly, exposing much more of Compton Lagoon. Evidence for significant loss was recorded as early as 1963, with an expedition describing the glacier as no longer smooth, but crevassed. By the late 1970s it had retreated 1.6 km and by the time of a 1987 survey, it was 2.5 km inland from its 1947 front.
Gotley Glacier is a well-defined glacier, 5 nautical miles (9 km) long, descending from the ice-covered slopes of the Big Ben massif to the southwest side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. Its terminus is located between Cape Arkona and Cape Labuan. To the east of Gotley Glacier is Deacock Glacier, whose terminus is located between Cape Labuan and Long Beach. To the northwest of Gotley Glacier is Lied Glacier, whose terminus is located between Cape Arkona and Cape Pillar. Cape Arkona separates Gotley Glacier from Lied Glacier.
Stephenson Glacier is a glacier close west of Dovers Moraine on the east side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. Its terminus is between Dovers Moraine and Stephenson Lagoon, with part of the glacier flowing to Doppler Hill and Sealers Beach. To the north of Stephenson Glacier is Brown Glacier, whose terminus is located at Brown Lagoon. To the southwest of Stephenson Glacier is Winston Glacier, whose terminus is located at Winston Lagoon, between Cape Lockyer and Oatt Rocks.
Deacock Glacier is a glacier close west of Lavett Bluff on the south side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. Its terminus is between Cape Labuan and Long Beach. To the east of Deacock Glacier is Fiftyone Glacier, whose terminus is located between Lavett Bluff and Lambeth Bluff. To the west of Deacock Glacier is Gotley Glacier, whose terminus is located between Cape Arkona and Cape Labuan.
Winston Glacier is a glacier flowing to Winston Lagoon on the southeast side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. Its terminus is at Winston Lagoon, between Cape Lockyer and Oatt Rocks. To the northeast of Winston Glacier is Stephenson Glacier, the terminus of which is located between Dovers Moraine and Stephenson Lagoon. To the southwest of Winston Glacier is Fiftyone Glacier, whose terminus is located between Lavett Bluff and Lambeth Bluff.
Vahsel Glacier is a glacier on the northwestern side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. It flows west into South West Bay, between Erratic Point and Cape Gazert. Immediately to the north of Vahsel Glacier is Schmidt Glacier, whose terminus is located between Mount Drygalski and North West Cornice. To the south of Vahsel Glacier is Allison Glacier, whose terminus is located south of Cape Gazert, which separates Allison Glacier from Vahsel Glacier.
Schmidt Glacier is a glacier, 0.7 nautical miles (1.3 km) long, flowing west from Baudissin Glacier between Mount Drygalski and North West Cornice, on the west side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. To the north of Schmidt Glacier is Baudissin Glacier, whose terminus is located at the western side of Corinthian Bay, near Sealers Cove. Kildalkey Head is west of Schmidt Glacier. To the south of Schmidt Glacier is Vahsel Glacier, whose terminus is at South West Bay, between Erratic Point and Cape Gazert. Immediately south of Vahsel Glacier is Allison Glacier. Click here to see a map of Schmidt Glacier and the northwestern coast of Heard Island.
Round Hill is an ice-free, rounded hill rising southward of Fairchild Beach and between Compton Glacier and Brown Glacier, on the northeast side of Heard Island. Travelling westwards from the sandy Fairchild Beach at the base of Round Hill, one arrives at the rocky Gilchrist Beach.
Ealey Glacier is a glacier, flowing northeast from the lower slopes of the Big Ben massif to the northeast side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. Its terminus is located close southeast of Cape Bidlingmaier, between Melbourne Bluff and North Barrier. The glacier terminates in ice cliffs. To the southeast of Ealey Glacier is Compton Glacier, whose terminus is located at Compton Lagoon, between Gilchrist Beach and Fairchild Beach. To the west of Ealey Glacier is Downes Glacier, whose terminus is located at Mechanics Bay, between Saddle Point and Cape Bidlingmaier.
Erratic Point is a small, moss-covered point at the head of South West Bay, 1.3 nautical miles (2.4 km) northeast of Cape Gazert, on the west side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. The First German Antarctica Expedition in 1902 charted a cape in this vicinity, from the summit of Mount Drygalski, and applied the name "Kap Lerche." In November 1929 the British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition under Douglas Mawson charted a small point in this position and applied the name "Erratic Point" because of the large number of massive erratic boulders encountered there. The Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition was unable to find any significant feature in this immediate area during their 1948 survey of the island, hence the name Erratic Point was retained by them for this small point.
Winston Lagoon is a lagoon indenting the southeast coast of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean, about 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) northeast of Cape Lockyer. The feature is roughly portrayed on an American sealer chart of the 1860 period. It was sighted from the air by Lieutenant Malcolm Smith, RAAF, pilot of the ANARE seaplane that made the first reconnaissance flight over the island in 1948. Lieutenant Smith proposed that it be named Lake Winston after his wife. In view of his death in an aircraft accident shortly afterward, this proposal was adopted by Australian Antarctic Names and Medals Committee (ANCA) with only a change of generic term.
Vornberger Glacier is a glacier about 10 nautical miles (18 km) long draining the north side of Siple Island. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) after Patricia Vornberger, NASA, specialist in field and remotely sensed data studies of ice motion in West Antarctica from the 1980s to the present.
Little Matterhorn is a rocky peak, 1,480 metres (4,860 ft) high, formed by a small volcanic cone 1.1 nautical miles (2 km) north-northwest of Fremantle Peak, on the north flank of Big Ben, the dominating mountain on Heard Island. It was surveyed and named in 1948 by the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition.
McClary Glacier is a glacier 10 nautical miles (19 km) long and 2 nautical miles (4 km) wide on the west coast of Graham Land, Antarctica. It flows southwest along the north side of Butson Ridge into Marguerite Bay between Cape Calmette and the Debenham Islands. The glacier was first roughly surveyed by the British Graham Land Expedition, 1936–37, and resurveyed by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, 1946–50. It was named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee for George B. McClary, father of Nelson McClary, mate on the Port of Beaumont during the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition, 1947–48.
This article incorporates public domain material from "Fairchild Beach". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey.