Compton Glacier
Glacier on the northeast side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean
title: "Compton Glacier" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["glaciers-of-heard-island-and-mcdonald-islands"] description: "Glacier on the northeast side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean" topic_path: "general/glaciers-of-heard-island-and-mcdonald-islands" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compton_Glacier" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Glacier on the northeast side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox glacier"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Compton Glacier |
| photo | Heard Island and McDonald Islands on the globe (Antarctica centered).svg |
| photo_caption | Location of Heard Island and McDonald Islands on the globe |
| type | cirque / tidewater |
| location | Heard Island |
| Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands | |
| Australia | |
| coords | |
| length | 3 nmi |
| thickness | 55 meters |
| terminus | Compton Lagoon, between Gilchrist Beach and Fairchild Beach |
| status | Retreating{{Cite journal |
| author1 | Ian F. Allison |
| journal | Polar Record |
| volume | 23 |
| pages | 255–272 |
| year | 1986 |
| doi | 10.1017/S0032247400007099 |
| issue | 144 |
| author | Andrew Ruddell |
| date | 25 May 2010 |
| url | http://www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=2100 |
| title | Our subantarctic glaciers: why are they retreating? |
| publisher | Glaciology Program, Antarctic CRC and AAD |
| access-date | 5 June 2010 |
| archive-url | https://web.archive.org/web/20091002074124/http://www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=2100 |
| archive-date | 2 October 2009 |
| url-status | dead |
| }}<ref name | Quil2000{{Cite journal |
| author1 | Quilty, P.G. |
| title | Heard Island and the McDonald Islands: A window into the Kerguelen Plateau (Heard Island Papers) |
| journal | Pap. Proc. R. Soc. Tasm. |
| volume | 133 |
| issue | 2 |
| pages | 1–12 |
| year | 2000 |
| }}<ref name | Budd2000{{Cite journal |
| author | Budd, G.M. |
| title | Changes in Heard Island glaciers, king penguins and fur seals since 1947 (Heard Island Papers) |
| journal | Pap. Proc. R. Soc. Tasm. |
| volume | 133 |
| issue | 2 |
| pages | 47–60 |
| year | 2000 |
| }}<ref name | Thost2008{{Cite journal |
| author1 | Douglas E. Thost |
| author2 | Martin Truffer |
| title | Glacier Recession on Heard Island, Southern Indian Ocean |
| journal | Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |
| volume | 40 |
| issue | 1 |
| pages | 199–214 |
| date | February 2008 |
| doi | 10.1657/1523-0430(06-084)[THOST]2.0.CO;2 |
| s2cid | 130245283 |
| url | http://instaar.metapress.com/content/m716t541j2514798/ |
| archive-url | https://archive.today/20121204192707/http://instaar.metapress.com/content/m716t541j2514798/ |
| url-status | dead |
| archive-date | 4 December 2012 |
| access-date | 7 June 2010 |
| doi-access | free |
| map | Indian Ocean |
| label_position | top |
| mark | Blue_pog.svg |
| mapframe | yes |
| mapframe-zoom | 11 |
| mapframe-wikidata | yes |
| :: |
| name = Compton Glacier | photo = Heard Island and McDonald Islands on the globe (Antarctica centered).svg | photo_width = | photo_alt = | photo_caption = Location of Heard Island and McDonald Islands on the globe | type = cirque / tidewater | location = Heard Island Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands Australia | coords = | area = | length = 3 nmi | thickness = 55 meters | terminus = Compton Lagoon, between Gilchrist Beach and Fairchild Beach | status = Retreating{{Cite journal |author1=Ian F. Allison |author2=Peter L. Keage |title=Recent changes in the glaciers of Heard Island |journal=Polar Record |volume=23 |pages=255–272 |year=1986 |doi=10.1017/S0032247400007099 |issue=144|s2cid=130086301 }}{{Cite web |author=Andrew Ruddell |date=25 May 2010 |url=http://www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=2100 |title=Our subantarctic glaciers: why are they retreating? |publisher=Glaciology Program, Antarctic CRC and AAD |access-date=5 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091002074124/http://www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=2100 |archive-date=2 October 2009 |url-status=dead |author1=Quilty, P.G. |author2=Wheller, G. |title=Heard Island and the McDonald Islands: A window into the Kerguelen Plateau (Heard Island Papers) |journal=Pap. Proc. R. Soc. Tasm. |volume=133 |issue=2 |pages=1–12 |year=2000 |author=Budd, G.M. |title=Changes in Heard Island glaciers, king penguins and fur seals since 1947 (Heard Island Papers) |journal=Pap. Proc. R. Soc. Tasm. |volume=133 |issue=2 |pages=47–60 |year=2000 |author1=Douglas E. Thost |author2=Martin Truffer |title=Glacier Recession on Heard Island, Southern Indian Ocean |journal=Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=199–214 |date=February 2008 |doi=10.1657/1523-0430(06-084)[THOST]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=130245283 |url=http://instaar.metapress.com/content/m716t541j2514798/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121204192707/http://instaar.metapress.com/content/m716t541j2514798/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 December 2012 |access-date=7 June 2010 |doi-access=free | map = Indian Ocean | label_position = top | map_caption = | mark = Blue_pog.svg | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 11 | mapframe-wikidata = yes Compton Glacier is a glacier, 3 nmi 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.{{cite gnis | type = antarid | id = 3009 | name = Compton Glacier | access-date = 5 June 2010}}{{cite aadcgaz | type = antarid | id = 616 | name = Compton Glacier | access-date = 5 June 2010}} 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.
Discovery and naming
The lower reaches of this glacier were charted and named Morgan's Iceberg on an 1860 sketch map compiled by Captain H.C. Chester, American sealer operating in the area during this period. The feature was surveyed in 1947/48 by the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions, who applied the name Compton Glacier for G.S. Compton, assistant surveyor with the expedition.
References
References
- (2000). "Coastal studies at Heard Island 1992/93: Changes in sea surface temperature and coastal landforms". Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania.
- (1963). "Technical Report". U.S. Army Natick Laboratories, Clothing & Organic Materials Division.
- (2014). "Global Land Ice Measurements from Space". Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
::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. ::