Mountain glaciers are dynamic reservoirs of frozen water closely coupled to ecosystems and climate. Glacier change in North America has major socioeconomic impacts, including global sea level change, tourism disruption, natural hazard risk, fishery effects, and water resource alteration. Understanding and quantifying precise connections between glaciers and climate is critical to decision makers, land managers, and the public, who are affected by these consequences of glacier change. The USGS Glaciers and Climate Project is aimed at solving complex scientific problems in snow and ice across North America to promote enhanced monitoring, analysis, and prediction of mountain glacier change. Utilizing expertise across USGS, this project combines legacy glacier monitoring with contemporary methods to reveal glacier-climate insight and deliver relevant, actionable science.
Benchmark Glacier Fact Sheet
The U.S. Geological Survey Benchmark Glacier Project combines decades of direct glaciological data with remote sensing data to advance the quantitative understanding of glacier-climate interactions.
Glacier-Climate Connection
The Glacier-Climate Connection geonarrative tells the story of the U.S. Geological Survey Benchmark Glacier Project, one of the longest running studies of glaciers on Earth.
USGS Benchmark Glacier Project
The flagship research effort of the Glaciers and Climate Project is a multi-glacier, decades-long study of glacier-climate response. Since the 1950s, glacier mass-balance measurements have been systematically collected at five benchmark glaciers, beginning with South Cascade (WA) and later including Gulkana, Wolverine and Lemon Creek Glaciers (AK). Sperry Glacier (MT), monitored since 2005, was added to complete the geographically diverse network in 2013.
Results from this monitoring form the longest continuous record of North American glacier mass balance, which capture seasonal and year-to-year variability. These intensively studied glaciers provide insight into the connection between climate and glaciers at multiple scales.
Historic glacier monitoring has involved various mission areas across USGS, but research was unified into one cohesive program in 2019 (O'Neel and others, 2019). Common field methodologies coupled with long-term, consistently analyzed records, are the hallmark of the Benchmark Glacier Project. Such consistency among sites allows glacier records from different climate zones of North America to be directly compared in order to better understand the impacts of mountain glacier change response of glaciers. Four of the glaciers are considered ‘reference’ glaciers in the World Glacier Monitoring Service’s internationally coordinated glacier monitoring network.
The USGS Benchmark Glacier Project also incorporates data collected from spaceborne and airborne platforms, enabling scientists to document three-dimensional glacier change at regional scales. This application of remotely sensed data broadens the project’s scope and relevance to facilitate glacier change projections, which guide sea level and water resource management strategies.
Benchmark Glaciers
Glacier Mass Balance
Research on Other Glaciers
Additional Resources
Additional Research Glaciers
Wolverine Glacier
Sperry Glacier
South Cascade Glacier
Gulkana Glacier
Lemon Creek Glacier
Mass Balance Summary
Mass Balance Methods - Measuring Glacier Change
Analyzing North American Glacier Change
Biogeochemistry of glaciers
Time Series of Glacier Retreat
Status of Glaciers in Glacier National Park
- Overview
Mountain glaciers are dynamic reservoirs of frozen water closely coupled to ecosystems and climate. Glacier change in North America has major socioeconomic impacts, including global sea level change, tourism disruption, natural hazard risk, fishery effects, and water resource alteration. Understanding and quantifying precise connections between glaciers and climate is critical to decision makers, land managers, and the public, who are affected by these consequences of glacier change. The USGS Glaciers and Climate Project is aimed at solving complex scientific problems in snow and ice across North America to promote enhanced monitoring, analysis, and prediction of mountain glacier change. Utilizing expertise across USGS, this project combines legacy glacier monitoring with contemporary methods to reveal glacier-climate insight and deliver relevant, actionable science.
Benchmark Glacier Fact Sheet
The U.S. Geological Survey Benchmark Glacier Project combines decades of direct glaciological data with remote sensing data to advance the quantitative understanding of glacier-climate interactions.
Glacier-Climate Connection
The Glacier-Climate Connection geonarrative tells the story of the U.S. Geological Survey Benchmark Glacier Project, one of the longest running studies of glaciers on Earth.
USGS Benchmark Glacier Project
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.A researcher locates an ablation stake near a crevasse on Wolverine Glacier. These collapsible poles are used to measure snow and ice melt on the glacier surface. The flagship research effort of the Glaciers and Climate Project is a multi-glacier, decades-long study of glacier-climate response. Since the 1950s, glacier mass-balance measurements have been systematically collected at five benchmark glaciers, beginning with South Cascade (WA) and later including Gulkana, Wolverine and Lemon Creek Glaciers (AK). Sperry Glacier (MT), monitored since 2005, was added to complete the geographically diverse network in 2013.
Results from this monitoring form the longest continuous record of North American glacier mass balance, which capture seasonal and year-to-year variability. These intensively studied glaciers provide insight into the connection between climate and glaciers at multiple scales.
Historic glacier monitoring has involved various mission areas across USGS, but research was unified into one cohesive program in 2019 (O'Neel and others, 2019). Common field methodologies coupled with long-term, consistently analyzed records, are the hallmark of the Benchmark Glacier Project. Such consistency among sites allows glacier records from different climate zones of North America to be directly compared in order to better understand the impacts of mountain glacier change response of glaciers. Four of the glaciers are considered ‘reference’ glaciers in the World Glacier Monitoring Service’s internationally coordinated glacier monitoring network.
The USGS Benchmark Glacier Project also incorporates data collected from spaceborne and airborne platforms, enabling scientists to document three-dimensional glacier change at regional scales. This application of remotely sensed data broadens the project’s scope and relevance to facilitate glacier change projections, which guide sea level and water resource management strategies.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Location of the five USGS Benchmark Glaciers (colored circles) among the glacierized regions of North America (blue). Benchmark Glaciers
Glacier Mass Balance
Research on Other Glaciers
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. Visit Media to see details.USGS scientist, Chris McNeil, measures and weighs an ice core extracted from Wolverine Glacier to determine the density of the firn layer. Additional Resources
- Science
Filter Total Items: 13
Additional Research Glaciers
Black Rapids, Columbia and Hubbard glaciers are also researched by the USGS.Wolverine Glacier
Wolverine Glacier is located in the high-latitude maritime climate regime of Alaska’s Kenai Mountains. Glacier observations began at this site in 1966.Sperry Glacier
Sperry Glacier is located along the Continental Divide within Glacier National Park, Montana. It represents the midlatitude continental or transitional climate. Glacier observations began at this site in 2005.South Cascade Glacier
South Cascade Glacier is located in the midlatitude maritime climate of the North Cascade Mountains of Washington State. Glacier observations began at this site in 1958.Gulkana Glacier
Gulkana Glacier is located in the high-latitude continental climate regime of Alaska’s Delta Mountains. Glacier observations began at this site in 1966.Lemon Creek Glacier
Lemon Creek Glacier is located in the high-latitude maritime region of Alaska, at the southernmost tip of the Juneau Icefield. Glacier observations began at this site in 1953.Mass Balance Summary
The USGS Benchmark Glacier Project measures changes in mass balance at five benchmark glaciers: Gulkana (AK), Wolverine (AK), Lemon Creek (AK), South Cascade (WA), and Sperry (MT).Mass Balance Methods - Measuring Glacier Change
Nearly all Earth's alpine glaciers are losing ice, usually expressed as loss of mass. Rates of mass loss for North American glaciers are among the highest on Earth (Gardner, 2013) and shrinking glaciers are often the most visible indicators of mountain ecosystems responding to climate change.Analyzing North American Glacier Change
Mountain glacier mass change affects water resources, regional ecosystems and global sea level. Understanding the physical processes that control glacier mass change requires field measurements of winter snow accumulation and summer melt.Biogeochemistry of glaciers
Significant change to the Arctic and sub-arctic water cycle is underway, impacting hydrologic and biogeochemical fluxes. In southcentral Alaska, glacier mass loss, changes to precipitation (including the rain/snow fraction), thawing ground ice, and vegetation encroachment will change both magnitude and timing of water and solute fluxes downstream. Although altered fluxes of limiting nutrients are...Time Series of Glacier Retreat
The retreat of glaciers (see PDF at end of page) in Glacier National Park, Montana, has received widespread attention by the media, the public, and scientists because it is a clear and poignant indicator of change in the northern Rocky Mountains of the USA. In 2017, the USGS and Portland State University released a dataset which describes the areas of the 37 named glaciers in Glacier National Park...Status of Glaciers in Glacier National Park
Glaciers on the Glacier National Park (GNP) landscape have ecological value as a source of cold meltwater in the otherwise dry late summer months, and aesthetic value as the park’s namesake features. USGS scientists have studied these glaciers since the late 1800s, building a body of research that documents widespread glacier change over the past century. Ongoing USGS research pairs long-term data... - Data
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