Juneau Icefield

January 12, 2006

Juneauicefieldpg copy

Provided and copyright by: Len Sharp, Liverpool HS-Annex
Summary authors & editors: Len Sharp

Juneau Icefield is located to the east of the capital of Alaska, Juneau. This summer, my wife and I had the opportunity to rent a float-plane to fly us over this immense region of glacial ice. The Juneau Icefield is the fifth largest such area on the North American continent (approximately 2400 square kilometers) and estimated depths 75 to 720 meters. This photo shows many features common to glacial areas such as: arête, nunataks, cirques, medial and lateral moraines, crevasses, and arcuate structures responding to the geology below the ice (see links below for more details. The image above shows just a portion of one of the 38 glaciers that feeds the huge Icefield. Later in the visit to Juneau, we visited Mendenhall Glacier, which exits the IceField north of Juneau and is an excellent example of a retreating glacier (estimated about 40m/year).

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