Alsek Glacier is a long glacier in
Glacier Bay National Park
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is an American national park located in Southeast Alaska west of Juneau. President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the area around Glacier Bay a national monument under the Antiquities Act on February 26, 1925. C ...
in the Panhandle of
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...
(USA).
The name ''Alsek'' is of
Tlingit
The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ), origin and may mean "place where people rest".
Glacier was named in 1901 by U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Moser,
commander of the
U.S. Bureau of Fisheries
The United States Fish Commission, formally known as the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, was an agency of the United States government created in 1871 to investigate, promote, and preserve the fisheries of the United States. In 1 ...
steamer
USS ''Albatross''.
Back Bay
/ref>
Geography
The glacial feeding area is located northwest of Mount Hay on the west flank of the Fairweather Range
The Fairweather Range is the unofficial name for a mountain range located in the U.S. state of Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the southernmost range of the Saint Elias Mountains. The northernmost section of the range is ...
at an altitude of 1200 m. The 1.2 km wide glacier flows west to Alsek Lake, which forms its glacier edge lake and flows through the Alsek River
The Alsek River (; Tlingit ''Aalseix̱' '') is a wilderness river flowing from Yukon into Northern British Columbia and into Alaska. It enters the Gulf of Alaska at Dry Bay.
Most of the Alsek River's basin is within protected wilderness areas a ...
.
Glacier development
The Alsek Glacier retreated about 3.5 km in the 20th century. As a result, the ice front split on a rock in two glacier tongues. The lake area of Alsek Lake doubled in size in the same period.
See also
* List of glaciers in the United States
This is a list of glaciers existing in the United States, currently or in recent centuries. These glaciers are located in nine states, all in the Rocky Mountains or farther west. The southernmost named glacier among them is the Lilliput Glacier ...
References
Glaciers of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
Glaciers of Hoonah–Angoon Census Area, Alaska
Glaciers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska
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