Juneau Icefield

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The Juneau Icefield or Juneau Icecap is an icefield located just north of Juneau, Alaska and continues north through the border with British Columbia.

The Juneau Icefield is the fifth largest icefield in North America extending through an area of 3900 square kilometers in the Coast Range ranging 140 km north to south and 75 km east to west. The icefield is the source of a myriad of glaciers including the famous "drive-up" Mendenhall Glacier and the aggressive Taku Glacier. The Icefield in fact is home to over 40 large valley glaciers and 100 smaller ones. The Icefield serves as a tourist attraction with many travellers flown in by helicopter for quick walks on the 240 to 1400 meter deep ice and the massive, awe-inspiring crevasses. The icefield, like many of its glaciers, reached its maximum glaciation point around 1700 and has been decreasing in size since. In fact, of the icefield's notable glaciers, the Taku Glacier is the only one presently advancing.

Since 1946, the Juneau Icefield Research Program has monitored glaciers of the Juneau Icefield. On the west side of the icefield, from 1946-2005, the terminus of the Mendenhall Glacier has retreated 580 meters. Eight kilometers to the north, the Herbert Glacier has retreated 910 meters, while Eagle Glacier 16 km north retreated 1090 meters. On the south side of the icefield, the Norris Glacier retreated 1740 meters, the East Twin Glacier 720 meters, and the West Twin Glacier 570 meters. Only the Taku Glacier has advanced. Surveys reveal the Taku as one of the deepest glaciers of the sub-temperate icefields surveyed at nearly 1370 m thick. This glacier was advancing in 1890 when viewed by John Muir and had a large calving front. By 1963 the glacier had advanced 5.6 km. In 1948 the Taku fjord had in filled and the glacier no longer calved.

See also

• List of glaciers and icefields
• Mendenhall Glacier
• Taku Glacier
• Retreat of glaciers since 1850

External links

• [Forest Service overview]
• [Juneau Icefield Research Program]
• [Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia: Juneau Icefield entry]

 

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