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You are browsing the archive for stikine icefield retreat Archives - From a Glacier's Perspective.

June 17, 2021

Dawes Glacier, Alaska Retreat Driven Separation

Dawes Glacier retreat in 1985 and 2020 Landsat images. Red arrow 1985 terminus, yellow arrow 2020 terminus. Point 1-3 are tributaries joining the main glacier. The glacier is about to separate into two calving termini. Dawes Glacier terminates at the head of Endicott Arm in the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness of southeast Alaska. Endicott Arm is a fjord that has been extending with glacier retreat, and is now  58 km …

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October 16, 2020

Whiting River Headwater Glacier, British Columbia Separates into Four

Whiting River headwaters glaciers in 1984 and 2020 Landsat images.  The red arrows indicate 1984 terminus positions, yellow arrow the 2020 terminus locations, pink arrows locations of glacier detachment and purple dots the snowline. In Northwest British Columbia on the northeast side of the Stikine Icefield the Whiting Rver drains a series of glaciers, many unnamed.  Here we are focusing on a pair of glaciers just west of Whiting Lake …

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July 9, 2018

Glaciers Abandon Farragut River Valley, Alaska

The Farragut Glacier  (F) in Landsat images in 1985 and 2017.  The red arrow indicates the 1985 terminus location, the yellow arrow the 2017 terminus location and the purple arrow, two tributaries in 1985 that now no longer connect to the former valley glacier. The glacier now terminates well short of Glory Lake (G) and two new lakes have formed.  The Farragut River drains into Frederick Sound in Southeast Alaska.  …

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June 11, 2014

Shakes Glacier Retreat-Tributary Separation, Alaska

Shakes Glacier drains the southern portion of the Stikine Icefield and terminates in Shakes Lake. It is between the more famous LeConte Glacier to the west and Great Glacier to the east. Larsen et al (2007) indicate recent thinning of 2-4 meters per year on the glaciers along the southern margin of the Stikine Icefield. Here we utilize 1985-2013 Landsat imagery to examine changes in this glacier. The USGS map …

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March 4, 2013

Patterson Glacier Retreat, Southeast Alaska

Patterson Glacier is a western outlet of the Stikine Icefield in southeast Alaska. The glacier does not reach tidewater it is 23 km long and has an area of about 100 km2. At the end of the 19th century, the terminus flowed both the east and the west, and was slowly advancing. William O. Field visited the glacier in 1941 and 1948 and found a 1.3 km retreat since the …

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June 20, 2012

Great Glacier Retreat, Stikine Icefield, BC Canada

Great Glacier is the largest outlet glacier of the Stikine Icefield terminating in Canada. The name came from the large expanse of the glacier in the lowlands of the Stikine River during the late 19th and early 20th century, that has now become a large lake. The glacier filled what is now a large lake at the terminus of the glacier pushing the Stikine River to the east side of …

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