Watkins Glacier

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Watkins Glacier
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Watkins Glacier
Location in California
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Watkins Glacier
Watkins Glacier (the United States)
TypeMountain glacier
Location Siskiyou County, California, United States
Coordinates 41°23′57″N122°10′38″W / 41.39917°N 122.17722°W / 41.39917; -122.17722 [1]
Area.04 sq mi (0.10 km2)
Length.2 mi (0.32 km)
TerminusMoraine
StatusExpanding

The Watkins Glacier is a glacier situated on the southeastern flank of Mount Shasta, in the U.S. state of California. It occupies a small cirque in the Clear Creek drainage. It is the smallest officially-named glacier on Mount Shasta, and it was not accorded that status until 1976, following a decades-long campaign by local resident R. Harry Watkins, Jr., to bring recognition to the previously-ignored glacier. [2]

The Watkins is one of three small cirque glaciers on the southern side of Shasta, along with the Konwakiton and Mud Creek Glaciers located about 1 mi (1.6 km) west. It has the lowest average elevation of any of Shasta's glaciers, extending only between 10,400 and 11,000 ft (3,200 and 3,400 m). [3]

In 2002, scientists made the first detailed survey of Mount Shasta's glaciers in 50 years. They found that seven of the glaciers (including the Watkins) have grown over the period 1951–2002, with the Hotlum and Wintun Glaciers nearly doubling, the Bolam Glacier increasing by half, and the Whitney and Konwakiton Glaciers growing by a third. [4] [5] [6]

See also

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The Bolam Glacier is a glacier situated on the northern flank of Mount Shasta, in the U.S. state of California. It is the second longest glacier in California behind the nearby Whitney Glacier, and the fourth largest and most voluminous after the neighboring Hotlum Glacier, Whitney Glacier, and Wintun Glacier. The Bolam Glacier flows from a cirque on the north side of Mount Shasta's main summit, with the moving ice starting below a large bergschrund which spans the glacier at 12,600 ft (3,800 m). Above that, permanent snow and ice extends towards the summit to about 13,500 ft (4,100 m). The glacier flows north down a steep slope and terminates near 9,800 ft (3,000 m). It has a contributing drainage area of 1.03 km2.

The Wintun Glacier is a glacier situated on the eastern flank of Mount Shasta, in the U.S. state of California. It is both the third largest and third most voluminous glacier in California after the neighboring Hotlum Glacier and the Whitney Glacier. The Wintun Glacier starts on the east side of Mount Shasta's main summit, and it has the highest permanent snow and ice on the mountain, reaching above 14,100 ft (4,300 m) to within a few dozen feet of the true summit. The glacier flows east down a steep slope and terminates in two lobes, the longer of which extends down near 9,800 ft (3,000 m).

The Konwakiton Glacier is a glacier situated on the southern flank of Mount Shasta, in the U.S. state of California. It occupies the head of a large cirque on the south side of Shasta's Misery Hill cone, just northeast of the prominent outcrop of Thumb Rock at about 11,500 ft (3,500 m). It is the fifth largest glacier on Mount Shasta, although less than one-third the size of any of the four larger ones. The Konwakiton is the most frequently visited of Shasta's glaciers, since the standard climbing route up Avalanche Gulch skirts along its western edge above Thumb Rock saddle, with the boot track often only a few feet from the bergschrund at the glacier's head.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cascades (ecoregion)</span> Temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of the United States

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References

  1. "Watkins Glacier". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved September 30, 2012.
  2. "Existing Glaciers of Mount Shasta". College of the Siskiyous. Retrieved March 7, 2007.
  3. Google Earth elevation for GNIS coordinates
  4. Harris, Stephen L. (2005). Fire Mountains of the West: The Cascade and Mono Lake Volcanoes (3rd ed.). Mountain Press Publishing Company. p. 109. ISBN   0-87842-511-X.
  5. Wong, Kathleen. "California Glaciers". California Wild. California Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on October 6, 2006. Retrieved January 23, 2007.
  6. Whitney, David (September 4, 2006). "A growing glacier: Mount Shasta bucks global trend, and researchers cite warming phenomena". The Bee. Archived from the original on January 21, 2007. Retrieved January 23, 2007.