Fiftyone Glacier
| Fiftyone Glacier | |
|---|---|
| Type | cirque/tidewater |
| Location | Heard Island, Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Australia |
| Coordinates | 53°11′S 73°34′E / 53.183°S 73.567°ECoordinates: 53°11′S 73°34′E / 53.183°S 73.567°E |
| Thickness | approximately 55 meters |
| Terminus | between Lavett Bluff and Lambeth Bluff |
| Status | Retreating |
Fiftyone Glacier is a large glacier flowing southwards, on the south side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. Its terminus is located between Lavett Bluff and Lambeth Bluff. To the northeast of Fiftyone Glacier is Winston Glacier, whose terminus is located at Winston Lagoon, between Cape Lockyer and Oatt Rocks. To the west of Fiftyone Glacier is Deacock Glacier, whose terminus is located between Cape Labuan and Long Beach.
Fiftyone Glacier was surveyed by ANARE (Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions) in 1948. It was named "The 1951 Glacier" by an ANARE party that made a traverse of Heard Island in 1951. The form Fiftyone Glacier was recommended by Antarctic Names Committee of Australia (ANCA) in 1964.
The landscape of Heard Island and nearby McDonald Island is constantly changing due to volcanism, strong winds and waves, and climate change. Volcanic activity has been observed in this area since the mid-1980s, with fresh lava flows on the southwest flanks of Heard Island. Satellite imagery shows that McDonald Island increased in size from about 1 to 2.5 square kilometers between 1994 and 2004, as a result of volcanic activity.
In addition to new land being produced by volcanism, warming of the climate is causing the retreat of glaciers (see below section). These combined processes produce new ice-free terrestrial and freshwater ecoregions such as moraines and lagoons, which are now available for colonization by plants and animals. Heard Island has vast colonies of penguins and petrels, and large harems of land-based marine predators such as elephant seals and fur seals. Due to the very high numbers of seabirds and marine mammals on Heard Island, the area is considered a "biological hot spot". The marine environment surrounding the islands features diverse and distinctive benthic habitats that support a range of species including corals, sponges, barnacles and echinoderms. This marine environment also serves as a nursery area for a range of fishes, including some species of commercial interest.
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