Alph River
River in Antarctica
title: "Alph River" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rivers-of-victoria-land", "scott-coast"] description: "River in Antarctica" topic_path: "general/rivers-of-victoria-land" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alph_River" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary River in Antarctica ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Alph River |
| pushpin_map | Antarctica |
| pushpin_map_caption | Alph River |
| subdivision_type1 | continent |
| subdivision_name1 | Antarctica |
| subdivision_type2 | region |
| subdivision_name2 | Victoria Land |
| mouth_coordinates | |
| :: |
| name = Alph River | image = | image_size = | image_caption = | image_alt = | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | map_alt = | pushpin_map = Antarctica | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption= Alph River | pushpin_map_alt = | subdivision_type1 = continent | subdivision_name1 = Antarctica | subdivision_type2 = region | subdivision_name2 = Victoria Land | length = | mouth = | mouth_location = | mouth_coordinates = | mouth_elevation = | progression = | waterbodies = Alph River () is a small river, flowing in summertime, on the northern side of Koettlitz Glacier, Scott Coast, Antarctica. It rises from Koettlitz ice at the upper end of Pyramid Trough and from south to north includes Pyramid Ponds, Trough Lake, Walcott Lake, Howchin Lake, and Alph Lake. The Alph ends in a subglacial stream beneath Koettlitz Glacier to McMurdo Sound.
Exploration and name
The portion north of Pyramid Trough was explored and named in February 1911 by the British Antarctic Expedition (BrAE) Western Journey Party led by Thomas Griffith Taylor. He reported that the stream continues north a considerable distance under moraine and ultimately subglacially beneath Koettlitz Glacier to the Ross Sea. This led to the name from a passage in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan: "Where Alph the sacred river ran, Through caverns measureless to man, Down to a sunless sea." The nearby Xanadu Hills are named from the same poem.
Features
Pyramid Ponds
A group of ponds lying south of Trough Lake in Pyramid Trough on Scott Coast. Named by New Zealand Geographic Board (NZGB) (1994) in association with Pyramid Trough and The Pyramid.
Trough Lake
Walcott Lake
Walcott South Stream
Walcott North Stream
Howchin Lake
Alph Lake
References
Sources
- {{citation |url=https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=121732 |accessdate=2024-02-24 |title=Alph Lake |publisher=AADC: Australian Antarctic Data Centre |ref= }}
- {{cite gnis2 |type=antarid |id=17052 |name=Alph River}}
- {{citation |journal=Antarctic Science |year=1991 |volume=3 |pages=73–86 |doi=10.1017/S0954102091000111 |first1=S.J. |last1=De Mora |first2=R.F. |last2=Whitehead |first3=M. |last3=Gregory |title=Aqueous geochemistry of major constituents in the Alph River and tributaries in Walcott Bay, Victoria Land, Antarctica}}
- {{cite gnis2 |type=antarid |id=17231 |name=Howchin Lake}}
- {{cite gnis2 |type=antarid |id=17260 |name=Pyramid Ponds}}
- {{citation |url=https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=114595 |accessdate=2024-02-24 |title=Trough Lake |publisher=AADC: Australian Antarctic Data Centre |ref= }}
- {{cite gnis2 |type=antarid |id=17289 |name=Walcott Lake}}
- {{cite gnis2 |type=antarid |id=17290 |name=Walcott North Stream}}
- {{cite gnis2 |type=antarid |id=17291 |name=Walcott South Stream}}
- {{cite gnis2 |type=antarid |id=17309 |name=Xanadu Hills}} ::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::