HR: 0830h
AN: C11C-0845    [PDF]
TI: Comparative Analysis of Glaciers in the Chugach-St.-Elias Mountains
AU: * Herzfeld, U C
EM: herzfeld@tryfan.colorado.edu
AF: CIRES, University of Colorado, 1540 30th St., Boulder, CO 80309-0449 United States
AU: * Herzfeld, U C
EM: herzfeld@tryfan.colorado.edu
AF: Geomathematik, Universitaet Trier, Behringstr., Trier, 54286 Germany
AU: * Herzfeld, U C
EM: herzfeld@tryfan.colorado.edu
AF: Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, 1560 30th St., Boulder, CO 80309-0450 United States
AU: Mayer, H
EM: mayerh@mechanik.tu-darmstadt.de
AF: Institut fuer Mechanik III, Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 1, Darmstadt, 66289 Germany
AU: Mayer, H
EM: mayerh@mechanik.tu-darmstadt.de
AF: Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, 1560 30th St., Boulder, CO 80309-0450 United States
AB: The phenomenon of glacier surges has to date been studied for only relatively few examples. 136 of the 204 surge-type glaciers in North America listed by Post (1969) are located in the St. Elias Mountains. In August 2003 we increased our data inventory of observations on surge glaciers by collecting material for 19 glaciers in the Glacier Bay area and neighboring regions in the eastern St. Elias Mountains, including 6 surge-type glaciers (Carroll, Rendu, Ferris, Grand Pacific, Margerie, and Johns Hopkins Glaciers). Analyses utilize digital video and photographic data, satellite data and GPS data. Geostatistical classification parameters and algebraic parameters characteristic of surge motions are derived for selected glaciers. During the 1993-1995 surge of Bering Glacier the entire surface of Alaska's longest glacier was crevassed and could be segmented into several dynamic provinces, where patterns changed as the surge progressed and the affected areas expanded downglacier and upglacier, finally affecting the Bagley Ice Field. The middle moraine of Grand Pacific and Ferris Glaciers is pushed over to the Grand Pacific side, caused by a recent surge of the heavily crevassed Ferris Glacier. The front of Johns Hopkins Glacier advances, as its lower reaches are affected by a surge. The surge history of Bering Glacier goes back to the Holocene, whereas Carroll and Rendu Glaciers have surged only 3-4 times. These observations pose questions on the possible relationship between surge dynamics and climatic changes.
DE: 1827 Glaciology (1863)
DE: 1863 Snow and ice (1827)
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting