Columbia Glacier 2001
Clinton Bailey, College of Wooster
Department
of Geology
» Introduction | Photographs
This
material is based upon work supported by the National Science
Foundation under Grant No. 9910805. Any opinions, findings, and
conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are
those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of
the National Science Foundation.
This page is a look at the Columbia Glacier
with photos, text, and links.
Located near Valdez along the southern coast of Alaska,
the Columbia Glacier covers nearly 450 square miles. It begins
north in the
Chugach Mountains and flows to the south more than 40 miles where
it ends at Columbia Bay. Today the Columbia Glacier is rapidly
retreating. Since 1982 it's terminus has receded an incredible
12 kilometers. This retreat can be seen in fugures 1 and 2. Read
more about the desintigration of the Columbia Glacier in a short
article posted here.
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Figure 1. Taken in 1966, this aerial photograph
shows the Columbia Glacier at an advanced position before its
recent retreat.
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Figure 2. This aerial photo, taken in 1996
from slightly further to the south, shows the ice margin in retreat.
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Figure 3. Taken from helicopter, this is a
close-up view of the calving margin of the glacier with mountains
in the background.
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Figure 4. The ice of the Columbia Glacier,
as seen at close range from helicopter.
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Figure 5. A topographic map of the area.
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More Links on the Columbia Glacier:
Check out the pages of former research assistants Kirk Lapham and Aaron
Sheer.
This page talks about the Columbia Glacier and global
warming.
This link, similar to the one included in the text
above, is a news story about the Columbia Glacier's fast
retreat.
