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You are browsing the archive for alaska glacier retreat Archives - Page 2 of 5 - From a Glacier's Perspective.

December 17, 2015

Dawes Glacier, Alaska Retreat and Harbor Seals

Comparison of 1987 and 2015 Landsat images of Dawes Glacier. Red arrow 1987 terminus, yellow arrow 2015 terminus, pink arrow location where tributaries separated. Dawes Glacier terminates at the head of Endicott Arm, a 55 km long fjord in southeast Alaska.  Dawes is a major outlet glacier of the Stikine Icefield.  Larsen et al (2007) observed a rapid thinning of the Stikine Icefield and that Dawes was thinning faster than …

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October 6, 2015

Fingers Glacier, Alaska loses a finger to melting

Landsat comparison of terminus area of Fingers Glacier 1986 and 2015 Fingers Glacier flows from the southern end of the Fairweather Range to the coastal plain, where is expands into a segmented piedmont lobe. The southernmost finger is heavily debris covered. In the Mount Fairweather B-4 quadrangle USGS map based on 1951 aerial photographs the glacier has four prominent fingers each eroding its own basin.  Here we examine Landsat imagery to …

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June 19, 2015

Slender Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska: Rapid Retreat 1992-2014

Slender Glacier is not an official name, but a well suited name to this glacier in the Romanzof Mountains of the Brooks Range of Northern Alaska.  It is adjacent to the Okpilak Glacier and drains into the Okpilak River, which is host to arctic grayling. Here we examine Landsat imagery from 1992-2014 to identify changes. U-Alaska-Fairbanks has an ongoing program in the nearby Jarvis Creek Watershed examining in part how will the …

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May 13, 2015

Retreat of Grewingk Glacier, Alaska 1986-2014

Grewingk Glacier drains west toward the Kachemak Bay, Alaska terminating in a proglacial lake in Kachemak Bay State Park.  The glacier drains an icefield on the Kenai Peninsula, glaciers draining west are in the Kenai Fjords National Park. The glaciers that drain east toward are in the Kenai Fjords National Park, which has a monitoring program.  Giffen et al (2008) observed the retreat of glaciers in the region. From 1950-2005 all 27 glaciers in …

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March 23, 2015

Widespread Retreat Gilkey Glacier System, Alaska

Gilkey Glacier drains the west side of the Juneau Icefield and has experienced widespread significant changes since I first worked on the glacier in 1981.    Here we examine the changes from the August 17, 1984 Landsat 5 image to the August 21, 2014 image from newly launched Landsat 8.  Landsat 5 was launched in 1984, Landsat 8 launched in 2013. The Landsat images have become a key resource in the examination of …

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March 12, 2015

Demise of Antler Glacier, Juneau Icefield, Alaska

“What is wrong with this map?” . Was my first comment about the Antler Glacier in 1981, while surveying the geology in the region with the Juneau Icefield Research Program, during light snow flurries in August.  The map I had was the most up to date USGS topographic map based on 1948 images, indicating Antler Glacier terminating in a small lake.  By 1981 the lake was quite long and the …

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February 22, 2015

Carbon Lake Glacier Retreat, Alaska

On Baranof Island in southeast Alaska there are a pair of unnamed glaciers at the headwaters of the Carbon Lake watershed, that then drains into Chatham Strait.  Here we examine changes in these glacier from 1986 to 2014 using Landsat imagery.  The blue arrow indicates the northern glacier terminus and the yellow arrow the southern glacier terminus region. In 1986 the southern glacier terminus, yellow arrow consisted of three main …

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January 4, 2015

Nizina Glacier Retreat, Lake Formation, Alaska

If you have heard of Nizina Glacier in the Wrangell Mountains of Alaska it is probably because you have contemplated a float trip down the Nizina River from Nizina Lake.  In 1990 there was no lake, since 2000 the lake has provided a good location for float planes to land.  In 2014 the lake has reached a new maximum in size and minimum in icebergs on its surface.  Here we …

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December 11, 2014

Davidson Glacier Retreat, Alaska

Davidson Glacier is a large glacier that flows east from the Chilkat Range to the foreland along Chilkat Inlet and Lynn Canal in southeast Alaska. As a result it has a long history of observation of change. Molnia (2008) noted that from 1889 to 1946 the glacier retreated 400 m and a lake had developed at the terminus. By 1978 the glacier had retreated another 700 m with the proglacial …

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December 7, 2014

Sinclair Glacier Retreat, Alaska

Sinclair Mountain is on the east side of the Lynn Canal in southeast Alaska. The mountains hosts too substantial glacier, the south flowing unnamed glacier is referred to here as Sinclair Glacier. This glacier terminated in a lake in the 1982 map of the Skagway region. I observed this glacier from the air in 1982 and it was ending in this lake. Here we examine Landsat imagery from 1984 to …

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