Week 3 - Glaciers

Glaciers

Hubbard Glacier, Alaska

Map of Hubbard Glacier area. www2.usgs.gov

This week I took a trip to Hubbard Alaska to see the Hubbard Glacier. Hubbard Glacier is the largest tide water glacier on the north American continent. A tidewater glacier is a glacier that has a portion of its ice in the sea water. Hubbard Glacier is one of the few glaciers that is still thickening and advancing towards the gulf of Alaska. As the glacier advances, icebergs are created when ice breaks off and floats away in the sea, This process is called Calving.

Hubbard Glacier showing rubble carried by the glacier.

http://www.lovethesepics.com/2013/01/gorgeous-glacier-bay-national-park-preserve-birthplace-of-icebergs-wildlife/

Hubbard glacier is unique in that it is one of the few remaining glaciers that is advancing. This growing glacier has been a threat to the local communities by creating a natural ice dam at the opening of Russell lake and causing water levels to rise with no escape. This glacier is actively carving the landscape and moving sediment closer to the sea. You can see the sediment being carried in the picture above.