Exit Glacier Alaska 2006

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Glaciers
Exit Glacier Alaska 2006
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Thats me climbing on glacial talus.
What is glacial talus?
Great question!
It is a pile of debris at the end of a glacier,
caused by melting ice.
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Hiking on the Harding Icefield, which the Exit
Glacier comes off of.
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How do glaciers form?
A glacier is a large mass of moving ice that
flows slowly over the land. The glacier flows so
slowly that you cant even see it move. 
Glaciers are formed in high mountains or around
the polar region. During the winter the snow
piles up and the glacier grows. But during the
summer some of the snow melts and evaporates.
Year after year the snow piles up in layers.     
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As years pass the slab of ice gets bigger and
grows thicker and becomes too big to stand still.
The ice starts to move down the hill. When the
ice moves it is called a glacier.    During the
summer some of the snow and ice melts but in some
areas of the glacier the temperature doesnt rise
high enough to melt the snow and ice. Glaciers
may also increase and decrease in size because of
the changes in the climate around the glacier. 
For example, the ice sheet on Greenland is
shrinking because of the rise in the temperature
in the area.
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Exit Glacier, the only area of Kenai Fjords
National Park accessible by car, is one of
thirty-five glaciers that flow off the Harding
Icefield. The Icefield is the largest in North
America, and it formed during the last ice age..
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The Last Ice Age
                                                                                                                          
       Four major ice ages were recorded in North
America. The last (Wisconsin) began about 70,000
years ago, and ended 10,000 years ago. During the
last ice age approximately 97 of Canada was
covered by ice.

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The Last Ice Age
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Glaciers
Valley/Alpine Glacier
Continental Glacier
Slow-moving glaciers that are wedged between
mountains.
Large sheets of ice that cover whole continents.
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Glacial Features
Kettle lakes form as pieces of glaciers break off
and melt.
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New York has been covered with glaciers 4 times.
These are photographs of Glacier Erratics.
Erratics are boulders that were dropped by a
glacier as it passed over the area. They are
sure signs that the land was once covered by
glaciers. There is an erratic in front of M.H.S
(look above).
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Parallel scratches form as small rocks stuck in
the bottom of a glacier move over rocks in the
ground and scratch them.
These scratches are called striations.
My picture from the Exit Glacier area shows the
scratches.
These scratches are found all over New York as
well.
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Large pieces of ice are breaking off glaciers
each day as the ice melts due to increasing
temperatures.
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Thinking Ahead..
Lets discuss a few things that could happen to
the Earth if all of the glaciers melted.
Click me for some ideas