You are browsing the archive for alaska glacier retreat Archives - From a Glacier's Perspective.
November 21, 2017
Bridge Glacier, Southeast Alaska Retreat & Lake Formation
Bridge Glacier in Landsat image from 1984 and Sentinel image from 2017. The red arrow indicates the 1984 terminus where no lake exists, yellow arrow is 2017 terminus, orange arrows are selected tributaries and purple dots the snowline. Bridge Glacier drains the same icefield as the Wright and Speel Glacier 45 km southeast of Juneau, Alaska. Here we examine the changes in this glacier from 1984-2017 using Landsat and Sentinel imagery. In 1984 the …
July 6, 2017
Pedersen Glacier, Alaska Rapid Retreat 1994-2015
Pedersen Glacier Kenia Peninsula, Alaska retreat from Landsat images in 1994 and 2016. The red arrow indicates 1994 terminus, yellow arrow is 2016 terminus, orange arrow indicates northern tributary and purple dots indicates snowline. Pedersen Glacier is an outlet glacier of the Harding Icefield in Kenai Fjords National Park near Seward, Alaska. The glacier drops quickly from the plateau of the icefield through a pair of icefalls terminating in a …
April 21, 2017
Yakutat Glacier Terminus Collapse, 10 km retreat 1987-2016
Landsat images from 1987 and 2016 with terminus indicated by yellow dots. Point A indicates the 1987 terminus location and Point E the 2016 terminus location. The Yakutat Glacier during the 1894-1895 Alaskan Boundary Survey ended near a terminal moraine on a flat coastal outwash plain. By 1906 the glacier had retreated from the moraine and a new lake was forming. Harlequin Lake. Surveys of the terminus of the glacier indicated …
February 24, 2017
Shoup Glacier, Alaska Retreat, Thinning, Velocity Decline
Shoup Glacier comparison in 1986 and 2016 Landsat images. The glacier retreated 1900 m in this interval. Red arrow is 1986 terminus, yellow arrow the 2016 terminus, green arrow rock rib emerging from beneath glacier, purple dots a landslide deposit, and purple arrow the snowline. Shoup Glacier is between the Columbia Glacier and Valdez draining from the Chugach Mountains in southern Alaska. The glacier was a tidewater terminating glacier until …
September 14, 2016
Herbert Glacier Retreat, Alaska 1984-2016
Comparison of Herbert Glacier terminus position in Landsat images from 1984 and 2016. Red arrow 1984 terminus, yellow arrow 2016 terminus and pink arrow a tributary that has separated. Herbert Glacier drains the west side of the 4000 square kilometer Juneau Icefield in Southeast Alaska. It is the glacier just north of the more well known Mendenhall Glacier and just south of Eagle Glacier. It is also the first glacier …
July 4, 2016
McBride Glacier Increased Retreat and Harbor Seals, Glacier Bay, Alaska
McBride Glacier (M), its secondary terminus (Ms), MCbride Inelt (MI) and Riggs Glacier (R) in Landsat image comparison from 1985 and 2015. The red arrows indicate the 1985 terminus location and the yellow arrows the 2015 terminus location. Main terminus 4.4 km retreat, secondary terminus 2.7 km retreat. McBride Glacier was part of the Muir Glacier complex in Glacier Bay, Alaska, until the 1960’s when it separated from Muir and adjacent …
June 14, 2016
Harris Glacier Retreat, Kenai Fjords, Alaska
Landsat images of Harris Glacier from 1986 and 2015. The red arrow indicates 1986 terminus location, yellow arrow the 2015 terminus position. The orange arrow indicates a key eastern tributary and the pink arrow a smaller eastern tributary. Harris Glacier flows from the northwest corner of the Harding Icefield, Alaska and it drains into Skilak Lake. The glaciers that drain east toward are in the Kenai Fjords National Park, which has a monitoring program. Giffen et …
May 27, 2016
Eagle Glacier, Alaska Retreat Losing a Wing
Above is a paired Landsat image from 1984 left and 2013 right indicating the 1100 m retreat during this period of Eagle Glacier. My first visit to the Eagle Glacier was in 1982 with the, ongoing and important, Juneau Icefield Research Program, that summer I just skied on the glacier. In 1984 we put a test pit at 5000 feet near the crest of the Eagle Glacier to assess the …
May 1, 2016
North Fork Grand Plateau Glacier, Alaska-Spectacular 3 km Retreat 2013-15
North Fork Grand Plateau Glacier comparison in 2013 and 2015 Landsat images. Illustrating the rapid retreat and lake expansion in just two years. Pink arrow is 1984 terminus, red arrow is the 2013 terminus and yellow arrow 2015 terminus. The orange dots are the 2013 terminus. The Alsek Glacier is a large glacier draining into Alsek Lake and the Alsek River in southeast Alaska Its neighbor the Grand Plateau Glacier has one fork flows north and …
February 28, 2016
Shamrock Glacier, Alaska Loses Terminus Tongue
Shamrock Glacier comparison in 1987 and 2014 Landsat images. Red arrow 1987 terminus, yellow arrow 2014 terminus, purple arrows upglacier thinning and purple dots the snowline. The terminus tongues extending into the lake has been lost. Shamrock Glacier flows north from the Neacola Mountains into Chakachamna Lake in the Lake Clark National Park of Alaska. This lake is transited by several species of salmon, mainly sockeye, heading into spawning areas upriver. …
Dean of Academic Affairs at Nichols College and Professor of Environmental Science at Nichols College in Massachusetts since 1989. Glaciologist directing the North Cascade Glacier Climate Project since 1984. This project monitors the mass balance and behavior of more glaciers than any other in North America.