A glacier is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as crevasses and seracs, as it slowly flows and deforms under stresses induced by its weight. As it moves, it abrades rock and debris from its substrate to create landforms such as cirques, moraines, or fjords. Although a glacier may flow into a body of water, it forms only on land and is distinct from the much thinner sea ice and lake ice that form on the surface of bodies of water.
Glaciology is the scientific study of glaciers, or more generally ice and natural phenomena that involve ice.
The Kenai Peninsula is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe, the Kahtnuht’ana Dena’ina, who historically inhabited the area. They called the Kenai Peninsula Yaghanen.
The Matanuska River (Dena'ina: Ch'atanhtnu; Ahtna: Ts'itonhna’) is a 75-mile (121 km) long river in Southcentral Alaska, United States. The river drains a broad valley south of the Alaska Range eponymously known as the Matanuska Valley.
Mendenhall Glacier is a glacier about 13.6 miles (21.9 km) long located in Mendenhall Valley, about 12 miles (19 km) from downtown Juneau in the southeast area of the U.S. state of Alaska. The glacier and surrounding landscape is protected as part of the 5,815 acres (2,353 ha) Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area, a federally designated unit of the Tongass National Forest.
Chugach State Park covers 495,204 acres covering a hilly region immediately east of Anchorage, in south-central Alaska.
The Denaʼina, or formerly Tanaina, are an Alaska Native Athabaskan people. They are the original inhabitants of the south central Alaska region ranging from Seldovia in the south to Chickaloon in the northeast, Talkeetna in the north, Lime Village in the northwest and Pedro Bay in the southwest. The Denaʼina homeland is more than 41,000 square miles in area. They arrived in the south-central Alaska sometime between 1,000 and 1,500 years ago. They were the only Alaskan Athabaskan group to live on the coast. The Denaʼina have a hunter-gatherer culture and a matrilineal system. The Iditarod Trail's antecedents were the native trails of the Denaʼina and Deg Hitʼan Athabaskan Native Alaskans and the Inupiaq Inuit.
Crucial to the survival of a glacier is its mass balance of which surface mass balance (SMB), the difference between accumulation and ablation. Climate change may cause variations in both temperature and snowfall, causing changes in the surface mass balance. Changes in mass balance control a glacier's long-term behavior and are the most sensitive climate indicators on a glacier. From 1980 to 2012 the mean cumulative mass loss of glaciers reporting mass balance to the World Glacier Monitoring Service is −16 m. This includes 23 consecutive years of negative mass balances.
An outwash fan is a fan-shaped body of sediments deposited by braided streams from a melting glacier. Sediment locked within the ice of the glacier gets transported by the streams of meltwater, and deposits on the outwash plain, at the terminus of the glacier. The outwash, the sediment transported and deposited by the meltwater and that makes up the fan, is usually poorly sorted due to the short distance traveled before being deposited.
The retreat of glaciers since 1850 is well documented and is one of the effects of climate change. The retreat of mountain glaciers, notably in western North America, Asia, the Alps and tropical and subtropical regions of South America, Africa and Indonesia, provide evidence for the rise in global temperatures since the late 19th century. The acceleration of the rate of retreat since 1995 of key outlet glaciers of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets may foreshadow a rise in sea level, which would affect coastal regions. Excluding peripheral glaciers of ice sheets, the total cumulated global glacial losses over the 26 year period from 1993–2018 were likely 5500 gigatons, or 210 gigatons per yr.
Ship Creek (Dena'ina: Dgheyaytnu) is an Alaskan river that flows from the Chugach Mountains into Cook Inlet. The Port of Anchorage at the mouth of Ship Creek gave its name to the city of Anchorage that grew up nearby.
The tidewater glacier cycle is the typically centuries-long behavior of tidewater glaciers that consists of recurring periods of advance alternating with rapid retreat and punctuated by periods of stability. During portions of its cycle, a tidewater glacier is relatively insensitive to climate change.
Bashful Peak is a mountain in the U.S. state of Alaska, located in Chugach State Park. At 8,005 ft (2,440 m), Bashful is the highest peak in Chugach State Park, and the highest peak in the Municipality of Anchorage. The peak carries snow year-round and several small glaciers hang from its steep western face.
Gulkana Glacier is a glacier that flows from the ice fields of the south flank of the eastern Alaska Range. It is accessible by gravel roads from the Richardson Highway near mile post 197 at the Richardson Monument, just two miles north of Summit Lake and 12 miles north of Paxson and the junction with Denali Highway. Closer to the glacier, a suspension bridge allows pedestrians to cross over Phelan Creek. Wildlife includes moose and bears. The peak of a hill just southwest of Gulkana Glacier has a post labeled PEWE 1975. The Arctic Man competition takes place near Gulkana Glacier every spring.
Eklutna Lake is a 1,424.5 hectares lake in the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska, near the village of Eklutna. It is located entirely inside Chugach State Park and is about 1 mile (1.6 km) wide and 7 miles (11 km) in length.
Campbell Creek is one of several streams that flow through the city of Anchorage, Alaska. It runs for 21 miles (34 km) from the Chugach Mountains to the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet.
Mount Rumble is a 7,530-foot (2,295 m) mountain summit located in the Chugach Mountains, in Anchorage Municipality in the U.S. state of Alaska. On a clear day the peak can be seen from the George Parks Highway. The peak is situated in Chugach State Park at the head of Peters Creek Valley, 24 mi (39 km) east of downtown Anchorage, and 3 mi (5 km) west of Eklutna Glacier.
Mount Grace is a remote 10,540-foot (3,213 m) glaciated mountain summit located in the Chugach Mountains, in the U.S. state of Alaska. The unofficially named peak is situated 63 mi (101 km) east of Anchorage, 6 mi (10 km) north of College Fjord, 3.35 mi (5 km) east of Mount Goode, and 9.37 mi (15 km) southwest of Mount Marcus Baker, on land managed by Chugach National Forest.
The Mitre is a 6,651 ft (2,030 m) mountain summit located in the western Chugach Mountains, in Anchorage Municipality in the U.S. state of Alaska. The mountain is situated in Chugach State Park, 30 mi (48 km) east of Anchorage, 3.5 mi (6 km) northeast of Peril Peak, and 5.5 mi (9 km) south-southeast of Eklutna Lake. The nearest higher peak is Benign Peak, 2.4 mi (4 km) to the west-northwest, on the opposite side of the Eklutna Glacier. Although modest in elevation, relief is significant since the western aspect of the mountain rises 4,000 feet above this glacier in approximately half a mile. In Europe, "mitre" is the term used for a sharp, symmetrical rocky peak such as this one. The Mitre's descriptive name was submitted for consideration by the Mountaineering Club of Alaska as suggested by Dr. Rodman Wilson (1921–2003) of Anchorage after he returned from a European vacation. The Mitre name was officially adopted in 1966 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. In the Denaʼina language, this mountain is known as Idlu Bena Dghelaya, meaning Mountain of Plural Objects Lake.
Benign Peak is a 7,235 ft (2,210 m) elevation mountain summit located in the western Chugach Mountains, in Anchorage Municipality in the U.S. state of Alaska. The mountain is situated in Chugach State Park, 28 mi (45 km) east of Anchorage, and 4.5 mi (7 km) south of Eklutna Lake. The nearest higher peak is Mount Rumble, 2.2 mi (4 km) to the southwest, and The Mitre is set 2.4 mi (4 km) east-southeast, on the opposite side of the Eklutna Glacier. Although modest in elevation, relief is significant since the eastern aspect of the mountain rises over 5,000 feet above this glacier in approximately one mile. This peak belongs to a group of peaks in the Eklutna River drainage which start with the letter "B", such as Bold Peak, Bashful Peak, Baleful Peak, and Mt. Beelzebub. Benign Peak was so named in 1965 by the Mountaineering Club of Alaska because "nearby Bellicose Peak was a much harder climb, while this one's nature was quite benign since the rock was not too rotten and the weather wasn't too bad." Benign Peak's name was officially adopted in 1966 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. The first ascent of this mountain was made in August 1965 by Art Davidson and John Vincent Hoeman by ascending the East Face, and descending the South Gully.
