How old is glacier ice?
- 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 years or less. Based on flow rates, it takes less than 400 years for ice to transit the entire 140 + mile length of Bering Glacier, Alaska’s largest and longest glacier.
Learn more: USGS Water Science School - Glaciers: Things to Know
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U.S. Geological Survey collections—Preserving the past to inform the future: Tour three federal repositories—Core Research Center, Paleontological Collection, and the NSF National Ice Core Laboratory
This 2016 Geological Society of America (GSA) Annual Meeting trip will explore the Core Research Center, Paleontological Collection, and National Science Foundation National Ice Core Laboratory—three collections of major national signifi cance managed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Since its inception in 1879, USGS has collected, preserved...
Latysh, Natalie
State of the Earth’s cryosphere at the beginning of the 21st century : glaciers, global snow cover, floating ice, and permafrost and periglacial environments: Chapter A in Satellite image atlas of glaciers of the world
This chapter is the tenth in a series of 11 book-length chapters, collectively referred to as “this volume,” in the series U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386, Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World. In the other 10 chapters, each of which concerns a specific glacierized region of Earth, the authors used remotely...
Williams, Richard S.; Ferrigno, Jane G.; Williams, Richard S.; Ferrigno, Jane G.
The United States National Climate Assessment - Alaska Technical Regional Report
The Alaskan landscape is changing, both in terms of effects of human activities as a consequence of increased population, social and economic development and their effects on the local and broad landscape; and those effects that accompany naturally occurring hazards such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Some of the most prevalent...
Markon, Carl J.; Trainor, Sarah F.; Chapin, F. Stuart; Markon, Carl J.; Trainor, Sarah F.; Chapin, F. Stuart
Fifty-Year Record of Glacier Change Reveals Shifting Climate in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, USA
Fifty years of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research on glacier change shows recent dramatic shrinkage of glaciers in three climatic regions of the United States. These long periods of record provide clues to the climate shifts that may be driving glacier change. The USGS Benchmark Glacier Program began in 1957 as a result of research efforts...
Glaciers of North America - Glaciers of Alaska
Glaciers cover about 75,000 km2 of Alaska, about 5 percent of the State. The glaciers are situated on 11 mountain ranges, 1 large island, an island chain, and 1 archipelago and range in elevation from more than 6,000 m to below sea level. Alaska's glaciers extend geographically from the far southeast at lat 55 deg 19'N., long 130 deg 05'W., about...
Molnia, Bruce F.
A Century of Retreat at Portage Glacier, South-Central Alaska
Introduction: The Portage Glacier, in south-central Alaska, is viewed by thousands of visitors annually who come to the U.S. Forest Service Begich, Boggs Visitor Center located on the road system between Anchorage and Whittier, Alaska. During the past century, the terminus of the glacier has retreated nearly 5 kilometers to its present location (...
Kennedy, Ben W.; Trabant, Dennis C.; Mayo, Lawrence R.
Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World
In 1978, the USGS began the preparation of the 11-chapter USGS Professional Paper 1386, 'Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World'. Between 1979 and 1981, optimum satellite images were distributed to a team of 70 scientists, representing 25 nations and 45 institutions, who agreed to author sections of the Professional Paper concerning either...
Williams, Richard S.; Ferrigno, Jane G.
Satellite image atlas of glaciers of the world -- North America
Williams, Richard S.; Ferrigno, Jane G.
Satellite image atlas of glaciers of the world
U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386, Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World, contains 11 chapters designated by the letters A through K. Chapter A provides a comprehensive, yet concise, review of the "State of the Earth's Cryosphere at the Beginning of the 21st Century: Glaciers, Global Snow Cover, Floating Ice, and Permafrost...
Williams, Richard S.; Ferrigno, Jane G.; Williams, Richard S.; Ferrigno, Jane G.
Glaciers Rapidly Shrinking and Disappearing: 50 Years of Glacier Change in Montana
The warming climate has dramatically reduced the size of 39 glaciers in Montana since 1966, some by as much as 85 percent, according to data released by the U.S. Geological Survey and Portland State University.
EarthView–As Glaciers Worldwide Are Retreating, One Defies the Trend
In this Landsat EarthView, one glacier in Chile bucks the global trend:
Fifty Years of Glacier Change Research in Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — This year marks the 50th anniversary of one of the longest continuous glacier research efforts in North America.
From Icefield to Ocean - What Glacier Change Might Mean for the Future of Alaska
Frozen bodies of ice cover nearly 10 percent of the state of Alaska, but the influence of glaciers on the environment, tourism, fisheries, hydropower, and other important Alaska resources is rarely discussed.
Melting Glaciers Increase the Flow of Carbon to Downstream Ecosystems
ANCHORAGE, Alaska Melting glaciers are not just impacting sea level, they are also affecting the flow of organic carbon to the world’s oceans, according to new research that provides the first ever global-scale estimates for the storage and release of organic carbon from glaciers.
Washington’s Benchmark Glacier Still Shrinking
TACOMA, Wash. — Washington’s only “benchmark” glacier continues to lose mass as a result of changes in climate, according to a report by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Drilling an Ice Core
Researchers start drilling an ice core in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
USGS Public Lecture: Warm Ice—Dynamics of Rapidly Changing Glaciers
- Glacier Numerology – The how big, how long, how thick, how much, how often, of glacier science.
- Glacier Photography – While a picture may be worth a thousand words, a collection of images may tell a complete forensic story.
- Glacier Geophysics – How new technologies are being introduced to reexamine and refine decades old glacier analyses.
Microstructures of an ice core
Characterization of the microstructures of an ice core reveals the mechanisms by which large bodies of ice deform and flow.
Crevices on glacier, Juneau Icefield
Crevices on glacier, Juneau Icefield
Jackson Glacier in Glacier National Park, circa 1911. Image 8 of 8.
Jackson Glacier in Glacier National Park, circa 1911. Image 8 of 8.
Glacier Animation
The simulation below reflects the predicted exponential rise in atmospheric CO2 concentrations, a 2xCO2 "global warming" scenario, with a concurrent warming of 2-3 degrees centigrade (4-5 degrees Fahrenheit) by the year 2050. In addition it assumes that precipitation, primarily in the form of rain, will increase over the same time period about 10 percent (based on the
...
Mapping the glacier's edge in Glacier National Park.
Mapping the glacier's edge in Glacier National Park.
Layered Ice
An ice jam on the East Branch Wesserunsett Stream in Athens, Maine in January 2014 left 3-5 ft ice walls on the riverbanks. On a January 21, 2014 site visit Nick Stasulis and Charlie Culbertson chisled away some of the ice wall so a discharge measurement could be made. The ice walls showed the multiple layers of river ice, snow and slush that froze in over the winter.
Louis Sass with an ice core in a snow pit
Louis Sass with an ice core in a snow pit
PubTalk 2/2008 — Alaska's Rivers of Ice
USGS scientist Bruce Molnia, discusses the impact of changing climate and conditions on Earth's glaciers
By Bruce Molnia, Geologist
See excerpts from this full-length film feature showing:
- How and where glaciers form
- How scientists study glaciers and climate
- The processes of glacial erosion and
PubTalk 12/2005 — Frozen in Time
How Ice Cores Are Revealing the Composition and Temperature of Earth's Atmosphere During the Past Million Years
by Todd Hinkley, Geologist
- Scientifically invaluable ice cores taken from Antarctic and Arctic ice are stored and safe guarded at the U.S. National Ice Core Laboratory, operated by the U.S. Geological Su rvey