[1][2] It was mapped in 1922 by Lauge Koch, who noted that the glacier tongue extended into Lake Alida (near Foulk Fjord).

[3] Hiawatha Glacier attracted attention in 2018 because of the discovery of a crater beneath the surface of the ice sheet in the area.

[5] The proposed impact structure was identified using airborne radar surveys that showed the presence of a 31 km wide crater-like depression in the bedrock beneath the ice.

[6] Shocked quartz grains and melt rock clasts have been found in fluvio-glacial sediments deposited by a river that drains the area of the structure.

[7] From an interpretation of the crystalline nature of the underlying rock, together with chemical analysis of sediment washed from the crater, the impactor was argued to be a type of iron asteroid with a diameter in the order of 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi).