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1910-1952 Photo Comparison, Gulkana Glacier, Alaska

A dramatic example of glacier retreat: The top composite photograph shows the view from about 1,410 meters altitude looking to the northwest at lower Gulkana Glacier on July 15, 1910. The glacier is flowing from right to left. It is near its maximum advanced position reached between 1875-1900 A.D. near the end of the Little Ice Age, (Péwé and Reger, 1983). The bottom composite photograph shows the view from the same location on July 12, 1952. In this view, the glacier has melted back out of sight to the right leaving a distinctive light-colored vegetation-free lateral moraine. West Gulkana Glacier appears in the center background of both photographs. Top photographs by F.H. Moffit, USGS, #423-424; bottom photographs by T.L. Péwé, #666-668. Photograph comparison modified from Sellmann (1962, fig. 8).Click on image for enlargement, 241 KB.

Maintainer: Rod March
Last update: Thursday, January 15, 2004 04:44 PM
URL: http://ak.water.usgs.gov/glaciology/gulkana/photos/1910-1952Comparison/1910-1952.htm