Rippon Glacier is a small glacier located in Kemp Land, East Antarctica. It is close east of Seaton Glacier, flowing southward into Edward VIII Ice Shelf.
Discovery and naming Rippon Glacier was mapped from aerial photos taken by ANARE (Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions) in 1956, and named for Sgt. Ralph Tudor Rippon, RAAF, airframe fitter at Mawson Station in 1959.Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) of the United States Geological Survey: Rippon Glacier. Accessed 22 May 2010.Gazetteer of the Australian Antarctic Data Centre: Rippon Glacier. Accessed 22 May 2010.
Weather conditions Just to the south of Rippon Glacier is a large valley formed by the Robert and Wilma Glaciers. These two glaciers, along with the Seaton and Rippon Glaciers, all flow into the King Edward Ice Shelf. To the west are the Napier Mountains, running northwest from Mount Elkins. Still further west are the Tula Mountains, beyond which the Beaver Glacier flows into Amundsen Bay. Collectively, these terrain features significantly modify weather produced by synoptic scale systems. Dramatic changes can occur over short distances and in short time intervals. One problem with some moist southeasterly airstreams is cloud formation northwest of Seaton and Rippon Glaciers that produces whiteout conditions looking inland of Rippon Depot.
Flora The following species have been sighted within 1.0 degrees of Rippon Glacier:
Scientific name Authority Common name Observations Bryum cf. caespiticium Tufted thread-moss Bryum pseudotriquetrum Marsh bryum Bryum urbanskyi
Fungi Buellia frigida Caloplaca athallina Caloplaca citrina Candelariella flava Japewia tornoensis Lecanora expectans Physcia caesia Physcia dubia Pseudephebe minuscula Rinodina olivaceobrunnea Xanthoria mawsonii
Fauna The following species have been sighted within 1.0 degrees of Rippon Glacier:
Scientific name Authority Common name Observations Aptenodytes forsteri Gray, 1844 Emperor penguin Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède,1804 Minke whale Balaenoptera bonaerensis Burmeister, 1867 Antarctic minke whale (also known as the 'dark-shoulder minke whale") Balaenoptera musculus Linnaeus, 1758 Blue whale Daption capense Linnaeus, 1758 Cape petrel Euphausia superba Dana, 1852 Antarctic krill Fulmarus glacialoides Smith,1840 Southern fulmar Lobodon carcinophaga Hombron and Jacquinot,1842 Crabeater seal Oceanites oceanicus Kuhl, 1820 Wilson's storm petrel Orcinus orca Linnaeus, 1758 Killer whale Pagodroma nivea Forster,1777 Snow petrel Puffinus spp. Linnaeus, 1758 Shearwater Pygoscelis adeliae Hombron and Jacquinot,1841 Adélie penguin Thalassoica antarctica Gmelin,1789 Antarctic petrel
See also Enderby Land List of glaciers in the Antarctic Glaciology
References
External links Australian Antarctic Division Australian Antarctic Gazetteer Australian Antarctic Names and Medals Committee (AANMC) United States Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica PDF Map of the Australian Antarctic Territory Mawson Station ANARE Club List of Peaks in Enderby Land Click here to see an image of helicopters refueling at a temporary fuel depot on Rippon Glacier in December 1979.