Cook Glacier

The Cook Ice Cap spans 400 square kilometers across the Kerguelen Islands, with sixty glaciers flowing outward from its central peak at 1,049 meters elevation.

French navigational maps from the early 1900s labeled this formation as Glacier Richthofen before it received its current name honoring explorer James Cook.

Scientists at Port-aux-Français research station study the ice cap's patterns to understand climate changes and geological processes in the Southern Hemisphere.

The glacier creates numerous outwash plains and terminal moraines, forming dammed lakes that influence the local water systems throughout the islands.

Only one of the sixty glaciers from Cook Ice Cap extends directly into the Indian Ocean, specifically at Anse des Glaçons on Kerguelen's southeastern coast.

Location: French Southern and Antarctic Lands

GPS coordinates: -49.31389,69.04139

Latest update: June 23, 2025 09:45