Lied Glacier

Lied Glacier
Satellite image of the southern tip of Heard Island. Cape Arkona is seen on the left side of the image, with Lied Glacier just above and Gotley Glacier just below. Big Ben Volcano and Mawson Peak are seen at the lower right side of the image.
Type	cirque/tidewater
Location	Heard Island, Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Australia
Coordinates	53°09′S 73°26′E / 53.150°S 73.433°E / -53.150; 73.433Coordinates: 53°09′S 73°26′E / 53.150°S 73.433°E / -53.150; 73.433
Thickness	approximately 55 meters
Terminus	between Cape Arkona and Cape Pillar
Status	Retreating

Lied Glacier is a glacier close north of Cape Arkona on the southwest side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. To the southeast of Lied Glacier is Gotley Glacier, whose terminus is located between Cape Arkona and Cape Labuan. Cape Arkona separates Lied Glacier from Gotley Glacier. To the north of Lied Glacier is Abbotsmith Glacier.

Lied Glacier was surveyed by Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) in 1948. It was named by the Antarctic Names Committee of Australia for N.T. Lied, a radio operator and weather observer with ANARE on Heard Island in the years 1951 and 1963, respectively.

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.