There are big glaciers and thick glaciers in this world, but this list is looking at the longest glaciers in the world. Some are much, much longer than you would think. But which one is the longest? Let’s find out…
The Slessor Glacier, Antarctica
10 – The Slessor Glacier, Antarctica (Estimated Length as of 2017: 115 Miles)
Wiki Info: The Slessor Glacier is a glacier flowing west into the Filchner Ice Shelf to the north of the Shackleton Range. First seen from the air and mapped by the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE) in 1956. Named by the CTAE for RAF Marshal Sir John Slessor, chairman of the expedition committee.
The Unnamed Glacier, Antarctica
9 – The Unnamed Glacier, Antarctica (Estimated Length as of 2017: 120 Miles)
Wiki Info: Antarctica is largely made up of three ice sheets (Antarctic Peninsula, West Antarctic and East Antarctic), which are drained by outlet glaciers. Some are big like this unnamed one, but most are small.
The Petermanns Glacier, Antarctica
8 – The Petermanns Glacier, Antarctica (Estimated Length as of 2017: 124 Miles)
Wiki Info: Petermann Glacier is a large glacier located in North-West Greenland to the east of Nares Strait. It connects the Greenland ice sheet to the Arctic Ocean near 81 degrees north latitude.
The Recovery Glacier, Antarctica
7 – The Recovery Glacier, Antarctica (Estimated Length as of 2017: 140 Miles)
Wiki Info: The Recovery Ice Stream that drains part of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The area contains four subglacial lakes, causing the ice flow rate to vary dramatically, ranging between 2 and 50 meters per year. The ice stream drains about 35 billion tons of water and ice into the ocean each year, while the entire East Antarctic ice sheet releases about 57 billion tons a year.
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The Beardmore Glacier, Antarctica
6 – The Beardmore Glacier, Antarctica (Estimated Length as of 2017: 144 Miles)
Wiki Info: 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 Denman Glacier, Antarctica
5 – The Denman Glacier, Antarctica (Estimated Length as of 2017: 150 Miles)
Wiki Info: Calving of Denman Glacier into the Mawson Sea gives rise to the periodically appearing Pobeda Ice Island.
The Nimrod-Lennox-King Glacier, Antarctica
4 – The Nimrod-Lennox-King Glacier, Antarctica (Estimated Length as of 2017: 180 Miles)
Wiki Info: Lennox-King Glacier is a large valley glacier draining Bowden Névé and flowing northeast between the Holland Range and the Queen Alexandra Range of Antarctica to enter Richards Inlet, Ross Ice Shelf.
The Arctic Institute Glacier, Antarctica
3 – The Arctic Institute Glacier, Antarctica (Estimated Length as of 2017: 227 Miles)
Wiki Info: The Institute is an in-house polar organisation, containing in one building the entire glaciological reconnaissance of the Columbia Glacier
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The Novaya Zemlya Glacier, Russia
2 – The Novaya Zemlya Glacier, Russia (Estimated Length as of 2017: 262 Miles)
Wiki Info: Novaya Zemlya, also known, especially in Dutch, as Nova Zembla, is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in northern Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the Northern island.
The Lambert-Fisher Glacier, Antarctica
1 – The Lambert-Fisher Glacier, Antarctica (Estimated Length as of 2017: 322 Miles)
Wiki Info: The glacier is important in the study of climate change because very small changes in the climate can have significant consequences for the flow of ice down the glacier. Most studies of the Lambert glacier are done with remote sensing due to the harsh conditions in the area.