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[[File:Beardmore_Glacier_-_Antarctica.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the Beardmore Glacier]] | [[File:Beardmore_Glacier_-_Antarctica.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the Beardmore Glacier]] | ||
The '''Beardmore Glacier''' in [[Antarctica]] is one of the largest valley [[glacier]]s in the world, being 200 km (125 mi) long and having a width of 40 km (25 mi). It descends about 2,200 m (7,200 ft) from the Antarctic Plateau to the [[Ross Ice Shelf]] and is bordered by the Commonwealth Range of the [[Queen Maud Mountains]] on the eastern side and the | The '''Beardmore Glacier''' in [[Antarctica]] is one of the largest valley [[glacier]]s in the world, being 200 km (125 mi) long and having a width of 40 km (25 mi). It descends about 2,200 m (7,200 ft) from the Antarctic Plateau to the [[Ross Ice Shelf]] and is bordered by the Commonwealth Range of the [[Queen Maud Mountains]] on the eastern side and the Queen Alexandra Range of the Central [[Transantarctic Mountains]]. | ||
The glacier is one of the main passages through the Transantarctic Mountains to the great polar plateau beyond, and was one of the early routes to the [[South Pole]] despite its steep upward incline. | The glacier is one of the main passages through the Transantarctic Mountains to the great polar plateau beyond, and was one of the early routes to the [[South Pole]] despite its steep upward incline. | ||
==Discovery and name== | ==Discovery and name== | ||
The glacier was discovered and climbed by [[Ernest Shackleton]] during his Nimrod Expedition of 1908. Although Shackleton turned back before reaching the [[South Pole]], he established the first proven route towards the pole and, in doing so, became the first person to set foot upon the polar plateau. In 1911–1912, [[Robert Falcon Scott|Captain Scott]] and his Terra Nova Expedition team reached the South Pole by similarly climbing the Beardmore. However, they reached the pole a month after [[Roald Amundsen]] and his team, who had chosen a route up the previously unknown | The glacier was discovered and climbed by [[Ernest Shackleton]] during his Nimrod Expedition of 1908. Although Shackleton turned back before reaching the [[South Pole]], he established the first proven route towards the pole and, in doing so, became the first person to set foot upon the polar plateau. In 1911–1912, [[Robert Falcon Scott|Captain Scott]] and his Terra Nova Expedition team reached the South Pole by similarly climbing the Beardmore. However, they reached the pole a month after [[Roald Amundsen]] and his team, who had chosen a route up the previously unknown Axel Heiberg Glacier. It was on the way back to the Nova expedition's base camp after they left the South Pole that [[Edgar Evans]], one of the members of Scott's chosen team to go to on the final trek to the South Pole, died around the foot of Beardmore Glacier on February 17, 1912. | ||
Beardmore Glacier was named by Shackleton after Sir William Beardmore, a Scottish industrialist and expedition sponsor born in 1856. | Beardmore Glacier was named by Shackleton after Sir William Beardmore, a Scottish industrialist and expedition sponsor born in 1856. |