Wintun Glacier

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Wintun Glacier
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Wintun Glacier
Location in California
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Wintun Glacier
Wintun Glacier (the United States)
TypeMountain glacier
Location Siskiyou County, California, United States
Coordinates 41°24′28″N122°10′56″W / 41.40778°N 122.18222°W / 41.40778; -122.18222 [1]
Area.5 sq mi (1.3 km2)
Length1.3 mi (2.1 km)
Thickness68 ft (21 m) average
TerminusMoraine
StatusExpanding

The Wintun Glacier is a glacier situated on the eastern flank of Mount Shasta, in the U.S. state of California. [2] [3] It is both the third largest and third most voluminous glacier in California after the neighboring Hotlum Glacier and the Whitney Glacier. [4] 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 (~8–15 m) of the true summit. [5] 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). [5]

In 2002, scientists made the first detailed survey of Mount Shasta's glaciers in 50 years. They found that seven of the glaciers 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. [6] [7] [8]

See also

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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.

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.

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The Mount Shasta Wilderness is a 38,200-acre (155 km2) federally designated wilderness area located 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Mount Shasta City in northern California. The US Congress passed the 1984 California Wilderness Act that set aside the Mount Shasta Wilderness. The US Forest Service is the managing agency as the wilderness is within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The area is named for and is dominated by the Mount Shasta volcano which reaches a traditionally quoted height of 14,162 feet (4,317 m) above sea level, but official sources give values ranging from 14,104 feet (4,299 m) from one USGS project, to 14,179 feet (4,322 m) via the NOAA. Mount Shasta is one of only two peaks in the state over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) outside the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. The other summit is White Mountain Peak in the Great Basin of east-central California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Rainier</span> Stratovolcano in the U.S. state of Washington

Mount Rainier, also known as Tahoma, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. The mountain is located in Mount Rainier National Park about 59 miles (95 km) south-southeast of Seattle. With a summit elevation of 14,411 ft (4,392 m), it is the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Washington, the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States, and the tallest in the Cascade Volcanic Arc.

References

  1. "Wintun 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 January 23, 2007.
  3. "Glaciers of California". Glaciers of the American West. Glaciers Online. Archived from the original on September 3, 2006. Retrieved January 23, 2007.
  4. Driedger, Carolyn L.; Kennard, Paul M. (1986). "Ice volumes on Cascade volcanoes; Mount Rainier, Mount Hood, Three Sisters, and Mount Shasta". U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1365. Retrieved March 6, 2007.
  5. 1 2 Google Earth elevation for GNIS coordinates
  6. 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.
  7. Wong, Kathleen. "California Glaciers". California Wild. California Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on October 6, 2006. Retrieved January 23, 2007.
  8. 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.