Yesterday we had one of these rare days with clear weather along Alaska's coastal mountains. We took advantage of it with a long day of surveying. This gave us a chance to see some of the most spectacular mountain landscapes on this planet.
First we flew Yahtse Glacier in Icy Bay. Icy Bay is an incredible place. The mountains rise straight out of the sea up to the towering 5,400 m high Mt. St. Elias.
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| Wind scouring patterns on Yahtse Glacier |
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| Upper Yahtse Glacier |
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| Looking down the steep terminus of Yahtse Glacier |
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| Icy Bay |
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| Yahtse Glacier, one of Alaska's few advancing glaciers |
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| Icy Bay |
After Icy Bay we headed south-east along the coast across the vast expanse of Malaspina Glacier.
Next was Yakutat Glacier, a place we had studied extensively during the past few years as part of an NSF funded project. Yakutat Glacier is one of the most rapidly retreating glaciers in Alaska. It calves into a lake and has lost several kilometers of its frontal area in just a few years. The glacier front is hard to recognize compared to just two years ago.
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| The front of the West Branch |
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| Crevasse patterns on the West Branch |
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| The East Branch still has some floating ice, but it is rapidly breaking apart |
Next up was the Hubbard Glacier, North America's longest tidewater glacier
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| Hubbard Glacier is healthily advancing. Twice already it has pinched off Russell Fjord at this location. In the back is Turner Glacier, Alaska's only surging tidewater glacier. It is surging again, for the third time in just ten years |
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| The tide is moving glacial silty water into Russell Fjord |
Some impressions from the upper Hubbard Glacier
