mspelto
Tourist
Reged: 12/11/06
Posts: 203
Loc: Massachusetts
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A tour of 55 glaciers in the North Cascades with data on behavior and photographs of changes and links to further information. The google earth imagery in the region is not the best for illustrating many of the observed changes. We look forward to updating this when better imagery is available. All of the glacier are observed in the field by the North Cascade Glacier Climate Project which observes more glaciers than any other in North America. There are three primary files, the main file is in this post. In the posts below there is a file on glaciers that have been lost and a file on the Whitechuck Glacier which has lost 85% of its area in the last 125 years.
Edited by mspelto (11/01/07 05:02 AM)
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Hill
Master Guide
Reged: 10/31/04
Posts: 9211
Loc: Southern California
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Great collection and photos. And a link about Ice Worms!!!  My only knowledge of them was from Robert Service , and I was sure they were fictional. 
LINK to a Seattle Times article about ice worms.
Quote:
"Yet all is clear as you draw near — for coyly peeking out
Are hosts and hosts of tiny worms, each indigo of snout
And as no nourishment they find, to keep themselves alive
They masticate each other's tails, till just the Tough survive."
Robert Service - "The Ballad of the Ice-Worm Cocktail"
Edited by Hill (01/18/07 07:26 PM)
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mspelto
Tourist
Reged: 12/11/06
Posts: 203
Loc: Massachusetts
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Yes the ice worms are interesting but not that important overall. I have spent alot of time collecting them for various studies. I am working on a tour that illustrates glaciers where they have been found. Ice worm distribution file
Edited by mspelto (06/26/07 01:44 PM)
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jean_thie
Cartographer
Reged: 12/06/06
Posts: 96
Loc: Ottawa, Canada
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Nice overview of your research. You cannot complain when you have to do this work for a living, although it is sad to see the glaciers disappear. Are you also involved in impact studies downstream in the watersheds?
--------------------
Jean Thie
Executive Director, Canadian Institute of Geomatics
www.geostrategis.com
Google Earth - An Exceptional Ecosystem Science Tool!
Monitor Permafrost Melting with Google Earth
Fire Ecosystem Interpretations with Google Earth
Map Glacial lake Agassiz!
Find the longest beaver dam in the World with Google Earth!
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mspelto
Tourist
Reged: 12/11/06
Posts: 203
Loc: Massachusetts
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I monitor changes in streamflow downstream of the glaciers, but not the impacts on the rivers. That would be nice but is just too much too tackle both. The main observed changes thus far is an increase in winter streamflow due to more winter melt and rain events and less summer runoff as snowmelt occurs earlier and glacier area available for melting declines.
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mspelto
Tourist
Reged: 12/11/06
Posts: 203
Loc: Massachusetts
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A sampling of glaciers lost. The aerial photographs are from the USGS and positioned using GPSVisualizor.com. This website makes correct positioning of overlays very easy, Thanks to Adam Schnieder.
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mspelto
Tourist
Reged: 12/11/06
Posts: 203
Loc: Massachusetts
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Here is a file illustrating the retreat of the Whitechuck Glacier. This glacier is the headwaters of the Whitechuck River and has lost 85% of its area in the last 125 years. This file has several images of the glacier a vertical photograph overlay, a topographic map overlay, and three paths showing the margin at different times. The changes in this glacier have altered the summer flow of the Whitechuck River.
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mspelto
Tourist
Reged: 12/11/06
Posts: 203
Loc: Massachusetts
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I have added a file showing the recent retreat of glaciers in Olympic National Park, just across Puget Sound from the North Cascades. All of the glaciers observed today in the Olympic mountains are retreating.
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