Encore - Tarn and Moraine of Schoolroom Glacier

November 17, 2018

Tarn Schoolhouse Glacier

Today and every Saturday Earth Science Picture of the Day invites you to rediscover favorites from the past. Saturday posts feature an EPOD that was chosen by viewers like you in our monthly Viewers' Choice polls. Join us as we look back at these intriguing and captivating images.

Photographer
: Russell Losco
Summary Author: Russell Losco

April 2013 Viewer's Choice Pictured above is a turquoise-colored tarn or glacial lake in the Grand Tetons of Wyoming that's impounded by a moraine. The tarn was formed by the Schoolroom Glacier (a portion of this glacier can be seen at right), and the moraine is composed of glacial till, piled up by the movement of the glacier before it retreated. Rock flour held in a colloidal suspension makes the water in the tarn opaque and gives it its color. Each glacier produces a distinct color of meltwater depending upon the composition of the rock flour being delivered to the melting face of the glacier. This tarn is located on the east side of Hurricane Pass (on the west side of the Grand Tetons) at an altitude of approximately 11,000 ft (3,353 m). Hurricane Pass is accessible from the Alaska Basin and affords a close-up view of the west-facing peaks of the Grand Tetons. Photo taken in on August 12, 2007, while on a field course on the geology of the National Parks of Wyoming.

Photo Details: Camera: FUJIFILM FinePix A340; Focal Length: 5.7mm; Aperture: f/5.6; Exposure Time: 0.0040 s (1/250); ISO equiv: 64; Software: Paint Shop Photo Album v5.22.

[10/18] ckd