Alsek Glacier is a long glacier in

Glacier Bay National Park Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in Southeast Alaska west of Juneau, Alaska, Juneau. President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the area around Glacier ...

in the Panhandle of

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

(USA). The name ''Alsek'' is of

Tlingit The Tlingit or Lingít ( ) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. , they constitute two of the 231 federally recognized List of Alaska Native tribal entities, Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; ...

origin and may mean "place where people rest". The 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 ...

steamer USS ''Albatross''.Back Bay
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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 i ...

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 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 and N ...

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.

References

Glaciers of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Glaciers of Hoonah–Angoon Census Area, Alaska Glaciers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska {{Alaska-glacier-stub

Geography

Glacier development

See also

References