The Branscomb Glacier is an Antarctic glacier, 9.5 km (6 mi) long, flowing west from the north-west side of Vinson Massif

Vinson Massif

Vinson Massif is the highest mountain of Antarctica, lying in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, which stand above the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. The massif is located about from the South Pole and is about long and wide. At the highest point is Mount...

 (the highest point in Antarctica) into Nimitz Glacier

Nimitz Glacier

The Nimitz Glacier is an Antarctic glacier, 64 km long and 8 km wide, draining the area about 16 km west of the Vinson Massif and flowing southeast between the Sentinel Range and Bastien Range to enter Minnesota Glacier, in the central Ellsworth Mountains.Discovered by USN...

, in the Sentinel Range

Sentinel Range

The Sentinel Range is a major mountain range situated northward of Minnesota Glacier and forming the northern half of the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica. The range trends NNW-SSE for about and is 24 to 48 km wide...

 of the Ellsworth Mountains

Ellsworth Mountains

The Ellsworth Mountains are the highest mountain ranges in Antarctica, forming a long and wide chain of mountains in a north to south configuration on the western margin of the Ronne Ice Shelf. They are bisected by Minnesota Glacier to form the northern Sentinel Range and the southern Heritage...

. Its upper course receives ice influx from both Goodge Col

Goodge Col

Goodge Col is a broad ice-covered col at 3600 m elevation between the south side of Mount Shinn and the Vinson Massif in the Sentinel Range, Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica. The col is relatively level, 1.5 miles wide, and is easily identified from positions east and west of the range...

 and Jacobsen Valley

Jacobsen Valley

Jacobsen Valley is the shallow valley in Vinson Massif, Sentinel Range in Ellsworth Mountains, descending northwards from the summit of Antarctica Mount Vinson . It is 3.5 km long and 1.2 km wide, and is bounded to the west by Branscomb Peak and Galicia Peak, and to the east by a minor ridge...

, while the tributary Roché Glacier

Roché Glacier

Roché Glacier is the 5.8 km long and 2 km wide glacier draining the central part of Vinson Plateau in Sentinel Range, Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica...

 joins Branscomb Glacier just northwest of Príncipe de Asturias Peak

Príncipe de Asturias Peak

Príncipe de Asturias Peak is the peak rising to 4680 m in Vinson Massif, Sentinel Range in Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica, and surmounting Branscomb Glacier to the west-northwest, Roché Glacier to the north and Tulaczyk Glacier to the southwest....

.

The glacier was mapped by the USGS

United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

 from surveys and USN

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 aerial photographs between 1957 and 1960. It was named by US-ACAN

Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names

The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending names for features in Antarctica...

 after Lewis M. Branscomb

Lewis M. Branscomb

Lewis M. Branscomb is an American physicist, government policy advisor, and corporate research manager. He is best known as former head of the National Bureau of Standards and, later, chief scientist of IBM; and as a prolific writer on science policy issues.Following World War II service in the...

, Chairman of the National Science Board

National Science Board

The National Science Board of the United States is composed of 25 members appointed by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate, representing the broad U.S. science and engineering community. The Board establishes the policies of the National Science Foundation within the framework...

from 1982 to 1984.

Maps

• Vinson Massif. Scale 1:250 000 topographic map. Reston, Virginia: US Geological Survey, 1988.