Kautz glacier

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Kautz glacier
( Kautz Glacier )
The upper Kautz Glacier flows from the ice cap of the summit to the Kautz Ice Cliff. The lower glacier (center left) flows down from the Kautz glacier Headwall (top left).

The upper Kautz Glacier flows from the ice cap of the summit to the Kautz Ice Cliff. The lower glacier (center left) flows down from the Kautz glacier Headwall (top left).

location Pierce County , Washington , USA
Mountains Cascade chain
Type Kar glacier
surface 4.7 km² (1983)
Altitude range 3841  m  -  1829  m
Ice volume 0.221 km³
Coordinates 46 ° 49 ′ 41 ″  N , 121 ° 46 ′ 14 ″  W Coordinates: 46 ° 49 ′ 41 ″  N , 121 ° 46 ′ 14 ″  W
Kautz Glacier (Washington)
Kautz glacier
drainage Kautz Creek Falls → Kautz Creek → Nisqually River
Template: Infobox Glacier / Maintenance / Image description missing

The Kautz Glacier is a narrow glacier on the southern flank of Mount Rainier in Washington State . It is named after August Kautz , who is sometimes referred to as the first to climb Mount Rainier. The glacier covered 4.7 km² in 1983 and had a volume of about 221 million cubic meters. The upper Kautz Glacier ( English Upper Kautz Glacier ) extends south of the summit ice cap to Kautz Ice Cliff to about 11,700 ft (3,566 m) altitude. Immediately to the west of the main ice cliff, the glacier continues over the Kautz-Rinne ( English Kautz Chute ), which ends in another ice cliff just above the lower Kautz glacier at an altitude of 10,800 ft (3,292 m). Mountaineers usually reach the Kautz Glacier via a short ascent from Camp Hazard to 11,300 ft (3,444 m) altitude on the Wapowety Cleaver and climb over the gully to the upper glacier.

The lower Kautz Glacier begins at the Kautz Glacier Headwall at about 12,500 ft (3,810 m) and flows generally south-southeast between the Kautz and the Wapowety Cleaver, two ice-hardened ribs. Immediately before meeting Success Glacier , the Kautz makes a right turn to the west over a short distance. After the two glaciers meet, the combined ice stream flows down to about 6,000 ft (1,829 m) altitude, where it ends. The meltwater of the glacier drains through the Kautz Creek Falls into the Kautz Creek , a tributary of the Nisqually River .

Debris flows

The glacier is one of four on Mount Rainier known for the debris it created. Similar currents come from the Nisqually Glacier , Winthrop Glacier, and South Tahoma Glacier . The Kautz Glacier triggered a fairly large mudslide on October 2 and 3, 1947 , when heavy rains melted the ice and eroded the lower part of the glacier . The meltwater turned into a mudflow of around 40 million m³, which also carried large rocks up to four meters in diameter with it. The mudslides buried Highway 706 under nine meters thick debris. These deposits from 1947 are still visible today. Smaller mudslides came down in 1961, 1985 and 1986.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d DESCRIPTION: Mount Rainier Glaciers and Glaciations - Mount Rainier Glacier Hazards and Glacial Outburst Floods . USGS. Retrieved November 19, 2007.
  2. ↑ your new online coordinate converter . Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  3. ↑ Harry M. Majors: Exploring Washington . Van Winkle Publishing Co, 1975, ISBN 978-0-918664-00-6 , p. 124.
  4. ^ A b Fred Beckey , Fred W. Beckey: Columbia River to Stevens Pass  (= Cascade Alpine Guide), 3rd edition, The Mountaineers Books, Seattle 2000, ISBN 0-89886-577-8 .
  5. ↑ USGS Mount Rainier West (WA) Topo Map . In: USGS Quad maps . TopoQuest.com. Retrieved May 17, 2008.
  6. ↑ DESCRIPTION: Kautz Creek Mudflow, October 2-3, 1947, Mount Rainier, Washington . USGS . Retrieved November 19, 2007.