What is the name of the glacier that sits above the deepest continental point on Earth?

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Denman Glacier sits above the deepest known continental point on Earth.

The glacier is in Queen Mary Land, East Antarctica, where it flows north for about 70 miles before reaching the Shackleton Ice Shelf. Beneath it lies a deeply eroded subglacial canyon. Mapping by the BedMachine Antarctica project found bedrock approximately 3,500 metres below sea level, making this the deepest natural point on land not covered by liquid water.

The location is hidden beneath the ice, so it is not a visible open canyon like the Grand Canyon. Radar surveys and other measurements are needed to map the bedrock surface through the Antarctic ice sheet. The glacier itself was discovered in November 1912 by the Western Base party of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition.

Denman Glacier is also scientifically important because its bed slopes downward inland, a configuration that can make an ice stream vulnerable to retreat if warm ocean water reaches beneath its floating ice shelf. Thwaites and Byrd glaciers are major Antarctic glaciers, but neither is the standard answer to the deepest-continental-point question.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026

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