Grand Pacific Glacier
| Grand Pacific Glacier | ||
|---|---|---|
 The Grand Pacific Glacier at the end of Tarr Inlet |
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| location | Alaska (USA), British Columbia (Canada) | |
| Mountains | Fairweather Range ( Elias chain ) | |
| Type | Valley glacier | |
| length | 55 km | |
| Exposure | east | |
| Altitude range | 2700 m - 0 m | |
| width | ⌀ 3.2 km | |
| Coordinates | 59 ° 10 ′ N , 137 ° 22 ′ W | |
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| drainage | Tarr Inlet ( Glacier Bay ) | |
| particularities | Tidal glaciers ; Glacier retreat | |
The Grand Pacific Glacier is a 55 km long glacier in British Columbia (Canada) and Alaska (USA).
geography
The glacier has its breeding ground in Alaska north of Mount Watson , in the Fairweather Range , in the extreme south of the Elias chain . It initially flows north parallel to the American-Canadian border, then turns east. It then runs in British Columbia. South of the Grand Pacific Pass, it bends south and flows into the head area of Tarr Inlet in Glacier Bay National Park , around one kilometer northeast of the Margerie Glacier . The last 1.5 km are back in Alaska.
Glacier development
In 1992 the two glaciers Grand Pacific and Margerie still formed a common ice front. Since then, the Grand Pacific has withdrawn. The ice front is on average 45 m above and 18 m below the waterline. The lateral edge of the glacier falls dry at low tide. The western two-thirds of the ice front come from the Ferris Glacier , which flows 3 km above the lower end of the glacier into the Grand Pacific Glacier. These have an ice speed of 450 m per year. The eastern third, on the other hand, has a speed of only 45–55 m per year (estimate from 1998/1999). The eastern edge of the glacier front is retreating at a rate of 10–20 m per year. The middle part has an annual retreat rate of 10 m. The western edge, which has already fallen dry, is retreating at a speed of 3–10 m per year.
Naming
The glacier was originally named by John Muir in 1879 . In 1892 the glacier had retreated so far that HF Reid of the United States Geological Survey decided to split the ice masses into three separate glaciers, kept the name Grand Pacific for the northernmost and largest and named the middle Johns Hopkins Glacier . The southernmost and smallest of the three was named Reid Glacier in 1899 by the Harriman-Alaska Expedition .
Web links
- Grand Pacific Glacier in the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System
- Grand Pacific Glacier . In: BC Geographical Names (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Daniel E. Lawson: An Overview of Selected Glaciers in Glacier Bay (PDF, 698 kB) National Park Service, US Dept. of the Interior. February 2004. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
- ^ Grand Pacific Glacier in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey