How long from the worlds longest glaciers are from their widest tips. Maybe 5 miles, 10? Maybe even 20 miles long!? Well, be prepared to be shocked as I bring you the ten longest glaciers in the world and also where they are located…
The Ten Longest Glaciers in the World and Where to Find Them
10 – Slessor Glacier, Glacier in the Antarctic – Last Recorded Length: 115 miles (185 km)
The Slessor Glacier is a glacier is always 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.
9 – Fedchenko Glacier, Balandkiik River near the border with Kyrgyzstan – Last Recorded Length: 120 miles (193 km)
The glacier was discovered in 1878 but not fully explored until 1928 by a German-Soviet expedition under Willi Rickmer Rickmers. It is named after Alexei Pavlovich Fedchenko, a Russian explorer. In 1910-1913 the glacier expanded and moved forward by 800–1000 m, blocking up the Balyandlik River the following year. It continued to recede between 1928-1960, stopping its inflows such as the Kosinenko, Ulugbeck, Alert and several others.
8 – Petermann Glacier, Glacier in Greenland – Last Recorded Length: 124 miles (200 km)
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. It is also said to be the edge of one of the world’s largest cold deserts.
7 – Recovery Glacier, Glacier in the Antarctic – Last Recorded Length: 139 miles (222 km)
First seen from the air and examined from the ground by the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1957, it was so named because of the recovery of the expedition’s vehicles which repeatedly broke into bridged crevasses on this glacier during the early stages of the crossing of Antarctica.
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6 – Beardmore Glacier, Glacier in the Antarctic – Last Recorded Length: 140 miles (225 km)
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.
5 – Denman Glacier, Glacier in the Antarctic – Last Recorded Length: 150 miles (241 km)
It was discovered in November 1912 by the Western Base party of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition under Sir Douglas Mawson. Mawson named the glacier for Lord Denman, Governor-General of Australia in 1911, a patron of the expedition.
4 – Lennox-King Glacier, Glacier in the Antarctic – Last Recorded Length: 180 miles (290 km)
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. It was named by the New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition (1959–60) for Lieutenant Commander James Lennox-King, Royal New Zealand Navy, the leader at Scott Base, 1960.
3 – Arctic Institute, Glacier in the Antarctic – Last Recorded Length: 225 miles (362 km)
The Arctic Institute has created a Field Guide to Arctic Glacial Ice to help readers identify different types and terms of sea ice when reading about their dynamic nature. But it got to name one itself as the Institute was located on a glacier when it broke free.
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2 – Nordenskiöld Glacier, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia – Last Recorded Length: 260 miles (418 km)
The Nordenskiöld Glacier is a group of four glaciers in Novaya Zemlya, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. This glacier group was named after Arctic explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld.
1 – Lambert Glacier, Glacier in the Antarctic – Last Recorded Length: 320 miles (545 km)
This glacier holds the Guinness world record for the world’s largest. It drains 8% of the Antarctic ice sheet to the east and south of the Prince Charles Mountains and flows northward to the Amery Ice Shelf as it flows in part of Lambert Graben and exits the continent at Prydz Bay.
