Google Earth Community: The Glaciers of Southeast Alaska

There are 741 Glacier names listed for all of Alaske in Gazetteers such as

http://www.lat-long.com/Lookup.cfm?State=AK&Name=&FeatureType=glacier&Submit=Submit

This file contains placemarks for the 230 glaciers in Southeast Alaska, aka, the Alaskan Panhandle. We are preparing a possible tour on the Alaska Marine Highway ferries through Southeast Alaska and this exercise was part of getting the lay of the land. Perhaps someday I will complete the file with all 741 (or maybe someone else can take on that task). The link above provided the names and lat-long for each glacier but the process was greatly aided by using the topo map overlays from the 3dSolar file available here;

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/52813/page/

The topo maps show the flow of the glaciers clearly, especially in the Juneau Ice-field where the GE images are mostly just white snow-pack.

There are many more glaciers visible in the area that don't have names. The haphazard nature of place naming often results in names for small, rather minor glaciers, while much larger glaciers nearby go unnamed.

Several glaciers have been highlighted with additional information. The Juneau Ice-field is a source of over 140 glaciers pouring out around its edges. The glaciers in the middle of the ice-field like the Matthes, Demorest, and Southwest Branch Taku are indistinct in the images and are better viewed on topo maps. The Atrevida Glacier is in high res and shows just how ugly the surface of a valley glacier can be. Some glaciers are very hard to see because they are so covered with dirt that vegetation grows on the them. The Dirt Glacier is one that was described by Muir in his "Travels in Alaska".

There is a special folder for Glacier Bay National Park. It shows the historical ice limits for Glacier Bay in 1750 and the Muir Glacier since John Muir studied it in the 1880's and today. Also the nearby Brady Glacier is an advancing glacier and two historical data points are shown.

The Hubbard Glacier surges and retreats, periodically isolating Russell Fjord from the sea. The Malaspina Glacier is a prime example of a piedmont glacier, radiating out symmetrically from its center. The Mendenhall Glacier is one of the most easily accessible glaciers, being a short paved road away from Juneau. Of course, Juneau isn't that accessible, with only air or water access.

The Fassett Glacier is all in high res and is fascinating to tour close to the surface. The dirty snow lines meander around highlighting the uneven flow rates within the glacier. The changes in texture as the flow is blocked by obstacles near the top is also seen in detail.

A Good Read; John Muir, Travels in Alaska; http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhi...vels_in_alaska/

Have fun;

I should also add that the kmlsorter was a big help in organizing the placemarks;

http://www.nearby.org.uk/sort-kml.php

Edited by WernerG (06/29/06 06:55 PM)