Noranda Glacier

Noranda Glacier is a giant sheet of ice found on the world of Onuru Sigma. It lies over a very large deposit of vespene gas, which is contaminated with hydrogen sulfide. The large quantities of gas which can be extracted from underneath the glacier, however, makes extracting the vespene economically viable.

The mixture of gases made harvesting the vespene hazardous.

The glacier was the site of a battle between the Kel-Morian Combine and Terran Confederacy units drawn from Alpha Squadron (the detachment led by Captain Edmund Duke) and the Dominion section, led by Captain Arcturus Mengsk. The Confederacy won a pyrrhic initial victory before large numbers of Kel-Morian ships arrived at the scene of battle, forcing a Confederate withdrawal.

This battle became the first conflict of the Guild Wars.