You are browsing the archive for Juneau Icefield Retreat Archives - From a Glacier's Perspective.
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 …
July 1, 2013
Juneau Icefield Glacier Terminus Change from Landsat 5 1984 to Landsat 8 2013
The Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) has been examining the glaciers of the Juneau Icefield since 1946. Until the NASA Landsat program began field measurements and aerial observations were the only means to observe the glaciers of the icefield. For more than 40 years it was Maynard Miller, U of Idaho, who led this expedition that has trained so many of today’s glaciologists, today it is Jeff Kavanaugh, U of …
February 7, 2013
Norris Glacier Retreat, Juneau Icefield Alaska
Above is a paired Landsat image from 1984 left and 2013 right indicating the 1100 m retreat during this period. Norris Glacier began retreating before 1890 and has continuously retreated 2050 m from its 19th-20th maximum achieved around 1915. The glacier ended in a lake referred to here as Norris Lake from 1948 until 2007. By 2010 the glacier had retreated from this lake. Here we examine images from fieldwork …
July 26, 2010
Lemon Creek Glacier Retreat Juneau Icefield Alaska
Above is a paired Landsat image with 1984 left and 2013 right, indicating a 300 m retreat in this interval. Annual balance measurements on the Lemon Creek Glacier, Alaska conducted by the Juneau Icefield Research Program from 1953 to 2013 provide a continuous 61 year record. This is one of the nine American glaciers selected in a global monitoring network during the IGY, 1957-58 and one of only two were …
March 14, 2010
Tulsequah Glacier, British Columbia Jokuhlaups and Retreat
Above is a paired Landsat image from 1984 left and 2013 right indicating the 2500 m retreat during this period of Tulsequah Glacier and formation of a new lake at the terminus. Tulsequah Glacier, British Columbia is a remote glacier draining from the Alaska-Canada boundary mountains of the Juneau Icefield. It is best known for its Jökulhlaups from lakes dammed by Tulsequah Glacier in northwestern British Columbia, Canada (Geertsema, 2000). …
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.