Geological Sciences

Glaciers

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Web Links for Parks with Glacial Landscapes Denali National Park Glacier Bay National Park Glacier National Park Mt. Rainier National Park North Cascades National Park Yosemite National Park	Glaciers can only exist if winter snowfall is greater than summer melting. These conditions occur in areas of high elevations and high latitudes. The Antarctic ice sheet shown here covers almost the entire continent. In contrast only small glaciers occur in New Zealand and Australia is too dry and warm to support any glaciers.

Icebergs from the Antarctic ice sheet gradually drift northward as they melt. This iceberg in the Weddell Sea is hosting several penguins and two Weddell seals.	Adelie penguins live along the rocky shore of Antarctica. These adults and chicks were photographed on the Antarctic Peninsula. Biological studies suggest that global warming is beginning to threaten their success in this difficult environment.

Snowfall is very high on the Alaska Panhandle and glaciers are numerous. The Margerie Glacier in the Fairweather Range is typical of the valley glaciers that occur in this area.	The Muldrow Glacier on the north side of Alaska's Denali is another valley glacier. The dark stripes of rock are moraines formed along the edges of the glaciers. Medial moraines form where two glaciers merge and continue down valley.

Switzerland's Jungfrau hosts alpine glaciers on one flank and a large valley glacier on the other.	This view of the Jungfrau valley glacier can be reached by a train that goes through the Eiger and terminates at a col below the Jungfrau.

The Eiger sits immediately adjacent to the Jungfrau. This face is one of the most dangerous climbing targets in Europe.	Glacial landscapes are typically very rugged and dotted with lakes. Mt. Shuksan in the North Cascades of Washington State is one of the most beautiful and photographed mountains in the 48 states.

The landscape around Mt. El Dorado in the North Cascades is typical of regions that have experienced glaciation. The high peaks are horns and the ragged ridges are aretes.	Cooper Lake with Mt. Redoubt in the background is in the North Cascades National Park. The small glaciers that now reside in the North Cascades are the remnants of a piedmont glacier that filled Puget Sound during the Pleistocene glacial period.

Yosemite Valley was filled with valley glaciers during the numerous Pleistocene glacial events. The large glacier in the main valley eroded downward more rapidly than the tributary glaciers in the smaller valleys. Hanging valleys such as the one occupied by Bridal Veil Falls resulted.	Pleistocene glaciers carved deeply into the Mesozoic granitic rocks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Half Dome in Yosemite Valley may have resulted from a massive rockfall as the glacier carved the valley deeper and deeper.

Glacier National Park in Montana is a product of glacial processes during the Pleistocene. The remaining glaciers are rapidly melting as the climate grows warmer and warmer.	Melting glaciers in Canada's Jaspar National Park choke the valleys with sediment. Streams that are so overloaded with sediment frequently develop the braided pattern visible here.

The horn visible in the background is Mt. Edith Cavell in Jaspar National Park. Streams discharged from glaciers often have the beautiful turquoise color shown here.	This photo, taken in Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park, shows glacial sediment overlying bedrock. This sediment buried a standing forest during the Pleistocene. Glaciers in the park have retreated over 65 miles in the last 200 years. The exposed sediment is now being eroded to reveal the standing tree trunks from the Pleistocene forest.

Glacial striations indicate the direction of movement of past glaciers. These striations are cut into the Permian Dwyka Tillite of South Africa.	The Dwyka Tillite shown above formed from sediment dropped from icebergs. The boulder being pointed to is a dropstone left by a melting iceberg. The Dwyka Tillite correlates with similar rocks in South America, India, Australia, and Antarctica. Alfred Wegener considered this tillite to be evidence of continental drift.

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