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Yes and no. It depends on which glaciers you are considering. Parts of the Antarctic Continent have had continuous glacier cover for perhaps as long as 20 million years. Other areas, such as valley glaciers of the Antarctic Peninsula and glaciers of the Transantarctic Mountains may date from the early Pleistocene. For Greenland, ice cores and related data suggest that all of southern Greenland and most of northern Greenland were ice-free during the last interglacial period, approximately 125,000 years ago. Then, climate was as much as 3-5o Fahrenheit warmer than the interglacial period we currently live in.
Although the higher mountains of Alaska have hosted glaciers for as much as the past 4 million years, temperate glaciers in Alaska are generally much, much younger. Many formed as recently as the start of the Little Ice Age, approximately 700 years ago. Others may date from other post-Pleistocene colder climate events. Some, such as the glaciers in the summit craters of Mount Redoubt and Katmai Volcanoes, have reformed following eruptions during the 20th century.
Learn more: USGS Water Science School - Glaciers: Things to Know
Based on the most recent comprehensive survey in 2011, there were about 27,000 glaciers in Alaska. However, the number of glaciers is a misleading statistic. Scientists are more interested in total glacial land coverage as a measure. The number of glaciers is less important since large ones can split up into several as they retreat. The amount of area glaciers occupy in Alaska is trending downward...
The age of the oldest glacier ice in Antarctica may approach 1,000,000 years old The age of the oldest glacier ice in Greenland is more than 100,000 years old The age of the oldest Alaskan glacier ice ever recovered (from a basin between Mt. Bona and Mt. Churchill) is about 30,000 years old. Glacier flow moves newly formed ice through the entire length of a typical Alaskan valley glacier in 100...
No--most of interior Alaska, south of the Brooks Range and north of the Alaska Range, was a non-glaciated grassland refuge habitat for a number of plant and animal species during the maximum Pleistocene glaciation. This ice-free corridor also provided one route for humans to move into North America. Learn more: USGS Water Science School - Glaciers: Things to Know
Glacier ice, like limestone (for example), is a type of rock. Glacier ice is actually a mono-mineralic rock (a rock made of only one mineral, like limestone which is composed of the mineral calcite). The mineral ice is the crystalline form of water (H 2O). Most glacier ice forms through the metamorphism of tens of thousands of individual snowflakes into crystals of glacier ice. Each snowflake is a...
Glacier ice is blue because the red (long wavelengths) part of white light is absorbed by ice and the blue (short wavelengths) light is transmitted and scattered. The longer the path light travels in ice, the more blue it appears. Learn more: USGS Water Science School - Glaciers: Things to Know
About 2.1% of all of Earth's water is frozen in glaciers. 97.2% is in the oceans and inland seas 2.1% is in glaciers 0.6% is in groundwater and soil moisture less than 1% is in the atmosphere less than 1% is in lakes and rivers less than 1% is in all living plants and animals. About three-quarters of Earth's freshwater is stored in glaciers. Therefore, glacier ice is the second largest reservoir...
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) occurred about 20,000 years ago, during the last phase of the Pleistocene epoch. At that time, global sea level was more than 400 feet lower than it is today, and glaciers covered approximately: 8% of Earth’s surface 25% of Earth’s land area 33% of Alaska Beginning about 15,000 years ago, continental glaciers retreated and sea level began to rise. Sea level reached...
There is still some uncertainty about the full volume of glaciers and ice caps on Earth, but if all of them were to melt, global sea level would rise approximately 70 meters (approximately 230 feet), flooding every coastal city on the planet. Learn more: USGS Water Science School: Glaciers and Icecaps National Snow and Ice Data Center: Facts about Glaciers U.S. Global Change Research Program: Sea...
While there is no global standard for what size a body of ice must be to be considered a glacier, USGS scientists in Glacier National Park use the commonly accepted guideline of 0.1 square kilometers (about 25 acres) as the minimum size of a glacier. Below this size, ice is generally stagnant and does not have enough mass to move. Learn more: Status of Glaciers in Glacier National Park
A glacier is a large, perennial accumulation of crystalline ice, snow, rock, sediment, and often liquid water that originates on land and moves down slope under the influence of its own weight and gravity. Typically, glaciers exist and may even form in areas where: mean annual temperatures are close to the freezing point winter precipitation produces significant accumulations of snow temperatures...
Named after a Greenlandic word meaning “large fjord,” Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier is one of the largest tidewater outlet glaciers in Greenland. It flows from the fjord of the same name, the second largest found on the east side of the island. This false color Landsat 9 image was acquired July 29, 2022, using Bands 5|4|3.
Named after a Greenlandic word meaning “large fjord,” Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier is one of the largest tidewater outlet glaciers in Greenland. It flows from the fjord of the same name, the second largest found on the east side of the island. This false color Landsat 9 image was acquired July 29, 2022, using Bands 5|4|3.
Imagery collected over Antarctica by satellites like Landsat is typically marked by highly reflective snow and ice, but isolated pockets of wind-swept glacial ice glow with a distinct blue.
Imagery collected over Antarctica by satellites like Landsat is typically marked by highly reflective snow and ice, but isolated pockets of wind-swept glacial ice glow with a distinct blue.
Monitoring glaciers in Glacier National Park.
- a journey through the landscape of Earth's greatest floods
by Richard Waitt, Geologist
- a journey through the landscape of Earth's greatest floods
by Richard Waitt, Geologist
Sheridan glacier and Sheridan river from the air, rich in fine glacial flour.
Sheridan glacier and Sheridan river from the air, rich in fine glacial flour.
Most glaciers in Washington and Alaska are dramatically shrinking in response to a warming climate.
Most glaciers in Washington and Alaska are dramatically shrinking in response to a warming climate.
Columbia Glacer in Prince William Sound, Alaska.
Columbia Glacer in Prince William Sound, Alaska.
View of central Alaska Range from the south.
View of central Alaska Range from the south.
This northeast-looking photograph, on the southeastern side of White Thunder Ridge ,shows the lower reaches of Muir Glacier, then a large tidewater calving valley glacier, and its tributary Riggs Glacier. The séracs in the lower right-hand corner of the photograph mark Muir Glacier’s terminus. The ice thickness is more than 700 meters.
This northeast-looking photograph, on the southeastern side of White Thunder Ridge ,shows the lower reaches of Muir Glacier, then a large tidewater calving valley glacier, and its tributary Riggs Glacier. The séracs in the lower right-hand corner of the photograph mark Muir Glacier’s terminus. The ice thickness is more than 700 meters.
Based on the most recent comprehensive survey in 2011, there were about 27,000 glaciers in Alaska. However, the number of glaciers is a misleading statistic. Scientists are more interested in total glacial land coverage as a measure. The number of glaciers is less important since large ones can split up into several as they retreat. The amount of area glaciers occupy in Alaska is trending downward...
The age of the oldest glacier ice in Antarctica may approach 1,000,000 years old The age of the oldest glacier ice in Greenland is more than 100,000 years old The age of the oldest Alaskan glacier ice ever recovered (from a basin between Mt. Bona and Mt. Churchill) is about 30,000 years old. Glacier flow moves newly formed ice through the entire length of a typical Alaskan valley glacier in 100...
No--most of interior Alaska, south of the Brooks Range and north of the Alaska Range, was a non-glaciated grassland refuge habitat for a number of plant and animal species during the maximum Pleistocene glaciation. This ice-free corridor also provided one route for humans to move into North America. Learn more: USGS Water Science School - Glaciers: Things to Know
Glacier ice, like limestone (for example), is a type of rock. Glacier ice is actually a mono-mineralic rock (a rock made of only one mineral, like limestone which is composed of the mineral calcite). The mineral ice is the crystalline form of water (H 2O). Most glacier ice forms through the metamorphism of tens of thousands of individual snowflakes into crystals of glacier ice. Each snowflake is a...
Glacier ice is blue because the red (long wavelengths) part of white light is absorbed by ice and the blue (short wavelengths) light is transmitted and scattered. The longer the path light travels in ice, the more blue it appears. Learn more: USGS Water Science School - Glaciers: Things to Know
About 2.1% of all of Earth's water is frozen in glaciers. 97.2% is in the oceans and inland seas 2.1% is in glaciers 0.6% is in groundwater and soil moisture less than 1% is in the atmosphere less than 1% is in lakes and rivers less than 1% is in all living plants and animals. About three-quarters of Earth's freshwater is stored in glaciers. Therefore, glacier ice is the second largest reservoir...
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) occurred about 20,000 years ago, during the last phase of the Pleistocene epoch. At that time, global sea level was more than 400 feet lower than it is today, and glaciers covered approximately: 8% of Earth’s surface 25% of Earth’s land area 33% of Alaska Beginning about 15,000 years ago, continental glaciers retreated and sea level began to rise. Sea level reached...
There is still some uncertainty about the full volume of glaciers and ice caps on Earth, but if all of them were to melt, global sea level would rise approximately 70 meters (approximately 230 feet), flooding every coastal city on the planet. Learn more: USGS Water Science School: Glaciers and Icecaps National Snow and Ice Data Center: Facts about Glaciers U.S. Global Change Research Program: Sea...
While there is no global standard for what size a body of ice must be to be considered a glacier, USGS scientists in Glacier National Park use the commonly accepted guideline of 0.1 square kilometers (about 25 acres) as the minimum size of a glacier. Below this size, ice is generally stagnant and does not have enough mass to move. Learn more: Status of Glaciers in Glacier National Park
A glacier is a large, perennial accumulation of crystalline ice, snow, rock, sediment, and often liquid water that originates on land and moves down slope under the influence of its own weight and gravity. Typically, glaciers exist and may even form in areas where: mean annual temperatures are close to the freezing point winter precipitation produces significant accumulations of snow temperatures...
Named after a Greenlandic word meaning “large fjord,” Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier is one of the largest tidewater outlet glaciers in Greenland. It flows from the fjord of the same name, the second largest found on the east side of the island. This false color Landsat 9 image was acquired July 29, 2022, using Bands 5|4|3.
Named after a Greenlandic word meaning “large fjord,” Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier is one of the largest tidewater outlet glaciers in Greenland. It flows from the fjord of the same name, the second largest found on the east side of the island. This false color Landsat 9 image was acquired July 29, 2022, using Bands 5|4|3.
Imagery collected over Antarctica by satellites like Landsat is typically marked by highly reflective snow and ice, but isolated pockets of wind-swept glacial ice glow with a distinct blue.
Imagery collected over Antarctica by satellites like Landsat is typically marked by highly reflective snow and ice, but isolated pockets of wind-swept glacial ice glow with a distinct blue.
Monitoring glaciers in Glacier National Park.
- a journey through the landscape of Earth's greatest floods
by Richard Waitt, Geologist
- a journey through the landscape of Earth's greatest floods
by Richard Waitt, Geologist
Sheridan glacier and Sheridan river from the air, rich in fine glacial flour.
Sheridan glacier and Sheridan river from the air, rich in fine glacial flour.
Most glaciers in Washington and Alaska are dramatically shrinking in response to a warming climate.
Most glaciers in Washington and Alaska are dramatically shrinking in response to a warming climate.
Columbia Glacer in Prince William Sound, Alaska.
Columbia Glacer in Prince William Sound, Alaska.
View of central Alaska Range from the south.
View of central Alaska Range from the south.
This northeast-looking photograph, on the southeastern side of White Thunder Ridge ,shows the lower reaches of Muir Glacier, then a large tidewater calving valley glacier, and its tributary Riggs Glacier. The séracs in the lower right-hand corner of the photograph mark Muir Glacier’s terminus. The ice thickness is more than 700 meters.
This northeast-looking photograph, on the southeastern side of White Thunder Ridge ,shows the lower reaches of Muir Glacier, then a large tidewater calving valley glacier, and its tributary Riggs Glacier. The séracs in the lower right-hand corner of the photograph mark Muir Glacier’s terminus. The ice thickness is more than 700 meters.
