Ferrigno Ice Stream

Ferrigno Ice Stream (73°43′S 83°49′W) is an ice Stream more than 15 nautical miles (28 km) long flowing into Eltanin Bay southwest of Wirth Peninsula, Antarctica. It was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names after Jane G. Ferrigno of the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Ferrigno has been a specialist for some decades from the 1970s in the use of satellite imagery for glacier studies and map compilation, co-leader of the USGS team that compiled the 1:5,000,000-scale radiometer maps of Antarctica, and task leader of the team that is compiling 25 glaciological and coastal-change maps of Antarctica.[1]

Beneath the glacier lies the Ferrigno Rift, a rift valley some 1.5 km deep, 10 km wide, and at least 100 km long.[2] The rift valley was discovered using ice-penetrating radar during a survey of the glacier in 2010 by a team from the British Antarctic Survey and the University of Aberdeen investigating ice-melt on the glacier that had been measured using satellites.[3] The ice-filled rift valley is connected to the ocean and is believed to impact ice loss on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.[3]

Further reading
• Christie, F. D. W., R. G. Bingham, N. Gourmelen, S. F. B. Tett, and A. Muto (2016), Four-decade record of pervasive grounding line retreat along the Bellingshausen margin of West Antarctica, Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, 5741–5749, doi:10.1002/2016GL068972
• Andrea Mustain, Ferrigno Rift, Antarctica ‘Grand Canyon,’ Discovered Beneath Ice, 07/25/2012 03:02 pm ET Updated Dec 06, 2017
• Joseph Cheek, Newly discovered Ferrigno Rift Valley in West Antarctica, International Polar Foundation

References
  1. "Ferrigno Ice Stream". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2012-03-21.
  2. Bingham, Robert G.; Ferraccioli, Fausto; King, Edward C.; Larter, Robert D.; Pritchard, Hamish D.; Smith, Andrew M.; Vaughan, David G. (2012). "Inland thinning of West Antarctic Ice Sheet steered along sub-glacial rifts". Nature. 487: 468–471. doi:10.1038/nature11292.
  3. Hidden Rift Valley Discovered Beneath West Antarctica Reveals New Insight Into Ice Loss, ScienceDaily.com, July 25, 2012, retrieved July 27, 2012

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document: "Ferrigno Ice Stream". (content from the Geographic Names Information System)


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