Alsek Glacier
Alsek Lake on Glacier edge.
Map showing the location of Alsek Glacier
Map showing the location of Alsek Glacier
Alsek Glacier
LocationAlaska Yakutat
Coordinates59°12′05″N 138°02′49″W / 59.20139°N 138.04694°W / 59.20139; -138.04694[1]
Length24-kilometer (15 mi)
Highest elevation1033 ft

Alsek Glacier is a 24-kilometer (15 mi) long glacier in Glacier Bay National Park in the Panhandle of Alaska (USA). [2] The name Alsek is of Tlingit origin and may mean "place where people rest".[3] The glacier was named in 1901 by U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Moser,[1] commander of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries steamer USS Albatross.[4]

Geography

The glacial feeding area is located northwest of Mount Hay on the west flank of the Fairweather Range at an altitude of 1200 m. The 1.2 km wide glacier flows west to Alsek Lake, which forms its glacier edge lake and flows through the Alsek River.

Glacier development

The Alsek Glacier retreated about 3.5 km in the 20th century. As a result, the ice front split on a rock in two glacier tongues. The lake area of Alsek Lake doubled in size in the same period.[5]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alsek Glacier.
  1. 1 2 Alsek Glacier
  2. ↑ Alsek Glacier MapCarta
  3. ↑ Alsek River. The Canadian Encyclopedia.
  4. ↑ Back Bay
  5. ↑ "ALSEK GLACIER". Archived from the original on 2018-05-26. Retrieved 2018-05-25.


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