Colonial Glacier Retreat and Hydropower

Colonial Glacier is on the southwest side of Colonial Peak in the Skagit River Watershed, North Cascades of Washington. The North Cascade Glacier Climate Project has made six visits to this glacier over the last 25 years. Meltwater from this glacier enters Diablo Lake above Diablo Dam and then flows through Gorge Lake and Gorge Dam. These two Seattle City Light hydropower projects yield 360 MW of power. As this glacier shrinks the amount of runoff it provides during the summer for hydropower is reduced. In 1979 the glacier was clearly thinning, having a concave shape in the lower cirque, but still filled its cirque, there is no evidence of a lake in this image from Austin Post (USGS). The glacier had retreated 80 meters since 1955. In 1985 my first visit to the glacier there was no lake at the terminus. In 1991 the lake had begun to form, second image, but was less than 30 m across. The upper glacier was a smooth expanse of snow. By 1996 the lake was evident, and was 75 meters long. In 2001 the lake had expanded to a length of 125 meters. By 2006 the lake was 215 m in length, and had some thin icebergs broken off from the glacier front. Runoff to the Skagit River is impacted directly by the climate change and the resultant retreat of the glaciers. Three notable changes in North Cascade streamflow have occurred.
1) Alpine runoff throughout the North Cascades is increasing in the winter (Nov.-Mar.), as more frequent rain on snow events enhance melting and reduce snow storage Streamflow has risen 18% in Newhalem Creek and 19% in Thunder Creek despite only a slight decrease, 1% in winter precipitation at Diablo Dam, within 5 km of both basins. These basins are on either side of Colonial Glacier.
2)Spring runoff (April-June) has increased in both basins by 5-10% due to earlier alpine snowpack melting.
3)Summer runoff has decreased markedly, 27%, in the non-glacier Newhalem basin with the earlier melt of reduced winter snowpack. In Thunder basin runoff has in contrast increased negligibly, 4%. The difference is accounted for in part by enhanced glacier melting. The observed net loss of -0.52 meters per year in glacier mass spread over the melt season is equivalent to 2.45 cubic meters per second in Thunder Basin, 10% of the mean summer streamflow. This trend of enhanced summer streamflow by reduction in glacier volume will not continue as the extent of glaciers continues to decline.

The lower portion of Colonial Glacier is not moving. GPS readings on both rockpiles on the lower glacier indicated no movement from 1996-2006. In the picture above the lake is still small in 1996, lower right corner and the lower rock pile distant from the terminus. The first two images below are from 2006, the lower rock pile is near the terminus and the last image is 2007 the lake has expanded back to the lower rockpile. Additional rock outcrops have appeared in the midst of the upper glacier that were not present in 1991, indicating this glacier does not have a persistent accumulation zone and will not survive current climate.

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Gangotri Glacier Retreat and Hydropower

In India the Gangotri Glacier is the largest glacier at the headwaters of the Bhagirathi River. The false-color image below provided by NASA shows the retreat of Gangotri Glacier, situated in the Uttarkashi District of Garhwal Himalaya. It is one of the larger glaciers in the Himalaya, and like all of the nearby Himalayan glaciers is retreating significantly. The Bharigrathi River has the Tehri Dam, a 2400 mw hydropower facility. With an area of 286 square kilometers Gangotri Glacier (Singh and others, 2006) provides up to 190 cubic meters per second of runoff for this river . Below is a view of the Tehri Reservoir, images of the dam and its operations are here Gangotri Glacier retreated 26.5 meters per year form 1935-1971. From 1975-2006 the glacier has retreated 1000 meters from, close to 30 meters per year. This glaciers remains over 30 km long, and is not in danger of disappearing anytime soon. The lower section of the glacier is heavily debris covered, which slows melting. The debris cover prevents black carbon-soot from enhancing melt over most of the ablation zone. The upper reaches of the glacier extends above 6000 meters and remains snow covered even during the summer melt season June-August, as this is also a main accumulation season due to the summer monsoon. This is different from other alpine regions, where the melt season is also the dry season, here it coincides with the wet season and the accumulation season on the upper glacier. Compare the differences in hydrographs from Thayyen and Gergen (2009) Figure 3 and 4. The new snowcover on the upper glacier also limits the impact of black carbon or soot on ablation. The glacier is fed from avalanches off of the even larger area of mountains above 6000 meters adjacent to it. This is one of many glacier in the Himalaya that is being tapped for hydropower. The Zemu Glacier is another example in the main Himalaya. In Tibet the Laigu Glacier is one of the longer glaciers at 33 km. This is nearby to a the staked glacier adjacent to the Zuoqiupu, that staked glacier is placemarked. Note the difference in size and debris cover and high elevation zones.There is plenty of dust and debris on the lower glacier to enhance ablation.

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Forni Glacier, Italy Retreat

Forni Glacier is the largest valley glacier in Italy. It is currently 5 km long and has retreated 2.5 kilometers since its Little Ice Age Maximum. It is in the Cevedale Group, Alps and part of the Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio. In this image the Little Ice Age terminal moraine is the prominent sharp debris ridge in the foreground, twenty years ago the glacier descended beyond the bottom of the image. The Italian Glaciologic Commission has observed and reported its annual terminus change over the last 30 years to the World Glacier Monitoring Service. The glacier began a sustained retreat in 1988, after advancing a small distance in the 1970-1987 period. As reported by the IGC to the WGMS from 1990-1995 Forni Glacier retreated 290 m, between 1995 and 2000 130 m, and from 2000-2005 115 m. Using IKONOS (Bellingeri and Zini, 2006 stereoscopic high resolution imagery linear retreat of the glaciers tongue was established as 520 meters for Forni Glacier in the 1981-2003 period. The glacier was found to have lost an average of 15 m in thickness in this period, 60 m near the terminus. The glacier as seen below above the key icefalls has a substantial consistent accumulation zone. It is the terminus tongue below the icefall that is at risk with current climate. A close up view of the terminus illustrates the region that has been deglaciated in the last 20 years, there is virtually no green vegetation evident in this region. The lower section of the glacier is rapidly downwasting still.

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Boulder Glacier Retreat, Mount Baker

Boulder Glacier flows down the west side of Mount Baker a strato volcano in the North Cascades of Washington. This steep glacier responds quickly to climate change and after retreating more than 2 kilometers from its Little Ice Age Maximum, it began to advance in the 1950’s as observed by William Long. The glacier advance had ceased by 1979. From 1988-2008 we (NCGCP) have visited this glacier at least every five years recording its changes. In 1988 the glacier had retreated only 25 meters from its furthest advance of the 1950-1979 period. By 1993 the glacier had retreated 100 m from this position. At this time the lower 500 meters of the glacier was clearly stagnant. By 2003 the glacier had retreated an additional 300 m. In 2008 the glacier had retreated 490 meters from its 1980 advance position, a rate of 16 meters per year. The glacier as seen in 2008 despite the steep slope has few crevasses in the debris covered lower 400 meters of the glacier. This indicates this section of the glacier is stagnant and will continue to melt away. The transition to active ice in at the base of the icefall on the right-north side of the glacier. Below is the glacier in 1993 note the darkened cliff at adjacent to and right of the terminus. The picture below that is from 1998 again note cliff, than in 2003 from the same location as the 1993. Than an image from 2008 of the terminus from further upvalley, as it is not clearly in view from the previous location. And a picture from Asahel Curtis taken in 1908. This glacier after 25 years of retreat is still not approaching equilibrium and will continue to retreat. This is a reflection of continued negative mass balance as measured on the adjacent Easton Glacier. It does respond fast to climate change, and the climate has not been good for this glacier. The glacier does have a consistent accumulation zone and can survive current climate.Picture from August, 1993 of the terminus of Boulder Glacier Picture from August 1998 of the terminus of Boulder GlacierPicture from August 2003 of the terminus of Boulder Glacier.Boulder Glacier in August 2008. Boulder Glacier in 1908 viewed across the glacier at the present terminus location during a Mountaineers trip taken by Asahel Curtis.Aerial photograph of Boulder Glacier in 1993 with the 1993 terminus in green and the 2006 terminus in orange.Satellite image of Boulder Glacier in 2006 from in Google Earth with the 1993 terminus in green and the 2006 terminus in orange.

For 26 years the North Cascade Glacier Climate Project has focussed on observing the response of glaciers to climate change, visit our website for all the details.

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Rembesdalsskaka, Norway Current Retreat

The Hardangerjøkulen Ice Cap is situated in southern Norway,150 km from the western coast. This elliptical shaped ice cap covers 73 square kilometers and ranges in altitude from 1020 to 1865 meters. It rises above the community of Finse offering access to snow year around. Norway has the most comprehensive glacier monitoring program in the world, mainly due to the heavy reliance on hydropower, for which glacier runoff is a key input. The Rembesdalsskaka drains west from the ice cap, the left side feeding the Rembesdalsvatnet Reservoir. The research is led by the The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE). Statkraft runs the Sima power station that is fed from Rembesdalsvatnet Reservoir and the larger Sysenvatn fed by the southern glaciers of Hardanger. This system produces 620 Mw of hydropower. The largest glacier draining the western side of the ice cap is the Rembesdalsskaka with an area of 17 square kilometers. Since the LIA maximum Rembesdalsskaka has retreated almost two kilometres, The ice cap decreased in volume from the Little ice Age until 1917, followed by an increase in ice cap volume and glacial advance until 1928, . After this a period with high negative mass balances cause a rapid retreat of Hardangerjøkulen until 1950. Retreat continued until 1961, but the rate declined. From 1961 to 1995 mass balances increased, with the highest balances in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. This resulted in an advance of Rembesdalsskaka. Since the early 1990’s mass balance has been negative, with exceptionally negative years in. This has led to the retreat of the Rembesdalsskaka each year from 2000-2009 a total of 307 meters. The retreat is measured each year from a benchmark painted on rock beyond the terminus, reported to the NVE and then to the World Glacier Monitoring Service. In 2009 the NVE reported 19 glaciers retreated, 3 were stationary and one advanced.

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Anderson Glacier Retreat, Middle section exposed

Anderson Glacier is the headwaters of the Quinault River in the Olympic Mountains of Washington. A century ago the glacier was 2 km long, and a half kilometer wide. Retreat of this glacier in the first half of the 20th century exposed a new alpine lake, as the glacier retreated 1 kilometer. From 1950-1980 the glacier diminished slowly. Since 1990 the glacier has begun to shrink rapidly. The USGS aerial photograph of the glacier is from 1990, Anderson Glacier is on the right, West Glacier is to the left. Investigating this glacier in 1992 we measured its area at 0.38 square kilometers, down from 1.15 square kilometers a century before. Ten years later the glacier had diminished to 0.30 square kilometers, but had thinned even more, leaving it poised for a spectacular change, over the next five years. Large outcrops of rock have appeared beginning in 2003 and further exposed in 2005 and 2009 in the middle of the glacier. Note the outcrops in this 2007 image from Kathy Chrestensen The end of the glacier is an avalanche runout area and is thinning slower than most of the lower reach of the glacier. This glacier has become a series of small disconnected relict glacier ice patches. There are some large ice caves that have developed under the glacier. This is an indication of limited flow, and stagnant melting ice. Anderson Glacier is not the only glacier feeding the Quinault River, all the others are retreating as well. The result of glacier retreat is reduced late summer and early fall streamflow, impacting salmon runs at that time of the year. This is primarily the fall Coho, Chum and Chinook salmon and Steelhead summer run. During the spring and early summer runoff increases as snowmelt still occurs, but is not retained in the glacier system.

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Zemestan Glacier, Afghanistan Retreats

The Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan is not easy to get to, as a result field study of its glaciers are quite limited. This is where the Global land ice Monitoring System (GLIMS) comes in. GLIMS acquires satellite imagery of glaciated areas, making these images available to researchers and processing them to an extent for inventory purposes. GLIMS is led by Jeff Kargel at the University of Arizona. In the Wakhan Corridor a group of glaciers was examined by Umesh Haritashya and others (2009). This recent GLIMS project examined ASTER and Landsat MSS data 1976–2003, in the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan. Of the 30 alpine glaciers of varying type, size and orientation examined 28 glacier-terminus positions have retreated, two have been stationary. The largest average retreat rate was 36 m per year, and the average retreat was 11 m per year. One of the glacier examined was the Zemestan Glacier. This glacier is 5.3 kilometers long, has an area of 5.2 square kilometers, begins at 5640 meters and terminates at 4800 meters. It is one of many glacier in the Central area of the Wakhan Corridor. Zemestan Glacier has retreated at a rate of 17 meters per year over the study period, a total retreat of 460 meters, 9% of its total length. The glacier has remained snowcovered at its higher elevations at the end of the summer in recent satellite images. This indicates that with current climate the glacier does have a significant accumulation zone and can survive current climate. Continued warming will increase the retreat rate and could threaten its survival. The glacier feeds the Pamir River which in turn drains into the Panj River, to the Amu Darya River and then the Aral Sea. The terminus is on a shallow slope lacks a steep slope and is not extensively crevassed. All of these factors indicate retreat will continue. The glacier has little debris cover unlike many glaciers in the Karakoram-Himalaya-Pamir Ranges such as the Khumbu Glacier or the Zemu Glacier

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Helm Glacier Melting Away

The Helm Glacier in the Coast Mountains of southwest British Columbia has been the focus of annual mass balance surveys since 1967. During the 1984-2008 period its mass balance losses have been the greatest of any of the 16 glaciers monitored in North America. The mass balance loss has been about 25 m of water equivalent, about 28 m of ice thickness lost. That is more than 30% of the glacier lost in just 25 years.The glacier had an area of 4.3 square kilometers in 1928. Today the area has declined by 78% to 0.92 square kilometers. In 1928 the glacier is not too distant from its Little Ice Age moraines. The trimlines of recently deglaciated terrain are clear. The glacier has two termini, one draining north and the other west. Today in the picture from Johannes Koch, there is a vast expanse of newly deglaciated terrain that as yet lacks significant vegetation. The western terminus is gone. Between 1977 and 1990, the west part of the glacier disintegrated into small cirque glaciers. Recession and melting of the Helm Glacier has been particularly rapid in the past decade. The thinning and retreat, has led to the main glacier separating from several small cirque glaciers that used to feed the glacier on its west side. The area of the main glacier has declined by 50% since 1996. More alarming has been the tendency of the glacier to lose its snowcover almost entirely as has occurred each year from 2002-2006. The accumulation area ratio AAR reported to the World Glacier Monitoring service was 0 from 2002-2006. Without an accumulation zone the glacier cannot survive. the glacier has retreated 1100 meters in the last century. In the last 50 years the retreat rate has been 15 meters per year. The retreat has exposed trees overrun by the advance of the Helm Glacier. There are some younger trees dating from the 12th to the 16th century overrun by the glacier advance. The sixteenth century wood location is fairly close to its Little Ice Age maximum, Koch and others, 2007. The locations of the wood samples are mainly arrayed around the cinder cone exposed by retreat between 1940 and 1980. Older trees discovered in 2006 and 2007 by more recent retreat were killed 6400 years ago, trees dated We have gone from a glacier at its smallest extent in 1000 years, to its smallest extent in 7000 years and still retreating in the a short period. The map below from Koch and others (2009). The lack of a consistent accumulation zone in recent years suggests this glacier will not survive. A glacier must have a consistent and persistent accumulation zone to endure.

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Zongo Glacier retreat

Zongo Glacier, Bolivia extends 2.9 km down the south side of Huyana Potosi from 6000 m to 4900 m. Zongo Glacier is a small valley glacier located north-east of La Paz, and its runoff is directed to an important hydraulic power station which supplies La Paz. Note Laguna Zongo in foreground of the first image. The dam is visible as is the power station to the right and below the lake. The glacier has considerable snowcover on its upper section and crevassing. This indicates a persistent accumulation zone. In 1991 a glaciological research program (page 46) was established on Zongo Glacier to monitor mass balance, understand its hydrology and energy balance. The long term director of this research Bernard Francou has been called the glacier guardian. The typical Alpine glaciers undergoes a long accumulation period in winter and a short ablation season in summer. The glaciers of the tropical Andes experience snow accumulation during the wet season, austral summer on their upper regions and maximum ablation during the same season low on the glacier. In the dry season winter there is a period of low ablation over the whole glacier. Mean annual air temperature at the long term snowline at 5250 m is -1.5 °C. Mean precipitation is about 0.9 m/year.

Since 1991 the glacier has lost more than 5 m of thickness and has retreated significantly. The mass balance loss has been most pronounced during El Nino periods, thus 2009 should not be a good year for Zongo Glacier. La Nina’s are associated with positive or only slightly negative mass balance, 2008 should have been a better year. The ongoing mass balance loss has led to retreat of 184 meters of this glacier from 1996-2005. A comparison of satellite images from 2004-2008 indicate a retreat of 70-75 meters, this is consistent with the reported retreat rate of 18 meters per year. The glacier has withdrawn from the new glacier lake formed from the ongoing glacier retreat in the 1990’s. The images below are focussed on the terminus in 2004 and in 2008, note the retreat from the lake shore.

Zongo Glacier continues to have an accumulation zone, a necessary essential for glacier survival, and unlike the nearby Chacaltaya Glacier which has disappeared in 2009, it will exist for sometime. The Chacaltaya Glacier is a small glacier, like 80% of the glaciers in this region of the Cordillera Real, and its disappearance puts more pressure on the water resources provided by the larger remaining glaciers such as Zongo Glacier.

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Khumbu Glacier Decay

The Khumbu Glacier is a large debris-covered glacier in the Khumbu region. It is one of the more famous and often visited Himalayan glaciers as it is the key route for climbing Mount Everest. About 12 km long, it drains mainly from the West Cwm between Mt. Everest and Lhotse and ranges in altitude from over 8000 meters to 4900 m. The equilibrium line separating the region where snow typically persists through the year is 5600 m. Melting is very limited above 5800 m. The famed Khumbu Icefall transitions the glacier from the accumulation zone to the ablation zone. Base camp for climbing expeditions is on a debris covered portion of the glacier below the Khumbu Icefall. The lower 10 km of the glacier is dominantly debris covered.
The Kathmandu-based mountain research institute, ICIMOD, reports that the Khumbu Glacier is retreating at an average of 20m per year. The length of the glacier has shrunk from 12,040m in the 1960s to 11,100m in 2001. This 1 kilometer retreat has been consistently between 15 and 20 m per year during this interval. Everest Base Camp has actually dropped from 5,320m to 5,280m since Hillary and Tenzing first set up camp there more than fifty years ago. This 40 m of thinning at the base camp has occurred over this 55 year period. Base camp is on the right side of the glacier in this view notice the small colored blotches.
Measurements of velocity on the glacier by Nakawao and others (1999) noted that the Khumbu Glacier near the climbing base camp slowed by 10% between 1958 measurements and 1995 measurements. Kadota and others (2000) surveyed the Khumbu glacier in 1995 and compared the results with those of the 1978 survey. They found that the surface of the glacier lowered about 12-15 meters over most of the length but by only 6-8 meters near the terminus. A recent paper by Bolch et al (2008) compared a Corona DTM 1962 image and the ASTER DTM 2002 of Khumbu, Glacier. During this interval the Khumbu Glacier thinned in the ablation zone by an average of 17 m, This is a rate of 0.4 m/year.
Bolch et al. (2008).
Thinning at base camp of 40 meters is greater than at the terminus. The result is a reduced glacier slope. Reduced slope and thickness both lead to deceleration. The reduced thickness loss at the terminus is due to the debris cover thickness increasing towards the terminus. (Image from Jeff Engels) Takeuchi and others (2000) noted that for Khumbu Glacier debris cover less than 5 cm increases ablation, debris greater than 5 cm in thickness reduces ablation. On Khumbu Glacier their ablation measurements indicate that ablation is reduced 40% from that of clean ice when the debris cover is 10 cm thick. Thicker debris cover reduced ablation even more, but only slightly. This is the primary reason why thinning has been less near the terminus.

Naito et al. (2000) developed a model coupling mass balance and flow dynamics of debris covered glaciers and applied it to the Khumbu Glacier. The model predicts formation and enlargement of a depression in the lower ablation area about 5 km upstream of the terminus. This
depression could transform into a glacier lake in future. Given the more rapid melting upglacier of the terminus and the low surface slope of this glacier, this is a reasonable result.

Given the slow rate of retreat and the 3000 m of altitude range above the current snowline the Khumbu Glacier is not in danger of disappearing with current climate. The entire Western Cwm the flat cirque seen beneath Nuptse, Lhotse and Everest here is in the permanent snow zone above 6000 m. The icefall then descends to 5400 m. The terminus is at 4900 m. It is not difficult to imagine this lower section of the glacier below the icefall wasting away.

Kadota, T., K. Seko, T. Aoki, S. Iwata, and S. Yamaguchi. 2000.
Shrinkage of the Khumbu Glacier, east Nepal from 1978 to
1995. IAHS Publ. 264 (Symposium at Seattle 2000 – Debris-
Covered Glaciers), 235–243.
Naito, N., M. Nakawo, T. Kadota and C.F. Raymond. 2000.
Numerical simulation of recent shrinkage of Khumbu Glacier,
Nepal Himalayas. IAHS Publ. 264 (Symposium at Seattle 2000 –
Debris-Covered Glaciers), 245–254.
Nakawo, M., H. Yabuki and A. Sakai. 1999. Characteristics of
Khumbu Glacier, Nepal Himalaya: recent changes in the debriscovered
area. Ann. Glaciol., 28, 118–122.

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Yakutat Glacier Rapid Retreat

The Yakutat Glacier during the 1894-1895 Alaskan Boundary Survey ended near a terminal moraine on a flat coastal outwash plain. By 1906 the glacier had retreated from the moraine and a new lake was forming. Harlequin Lake. Surveys of the terminus of the glacier indicated a retreat of 1 kilometer in that decade. From 1906-1948 the glacier retreated an additional 5 km. From 1948-1958 the glacier retreated 3.6 km. From 1958-2008 the glacier has retreated another 3-4 km. By 1982 Harlequin Lake was quite large, too large it seemed to me, being lost in the fog on its waters trying to find the terminus. The retreat is evident in comparing the Yakutat B-3 quadrangle from 1958 photography and a 2008 satellite image of the glacier. The orange-brown line is the margin of 50 years before. Today the glacier is the focus of a new study by the University of Alaska, led my Roman Motyka, Martin Truffer and Chris Larsen
They have set up a time lapse camera to record frontal changes. The goal is to understand the controls on calving into Harlequin Lake of this glacier. More amazing than the retreat has been the observed thinning of the glacier. The glacier has thinned by more 200 m on average according to the preliminary thickness change maps from the UAK project. The Yakutat Glacier does not have a high accumulation zone and the recent increase in the snowline elevation and thinning of the glacier have led to a substantial shrinking of the accumulation zone. For a calving glacier to be in equilibrium it needs to have at least 60 % of its area snowcovered at the end of the summer.

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Tasman Glacier Retreat

The New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research has been examining the changes in volume and snowline on New Zealand Glaciers since 1977. This survey has concluded for 2009 they same observation as for 2007 and 2008, the glaciers are shrinking. An examination of the recent volume changes on the glacier indicate that the volume has been particularly negative since 1998.. This followed a period of relatively positive mass balance from 1990-1997, which made the New Zealand glaciers the least rapidly retreating glaciers in the world. For Tasman Glacier the retreat has been ongoing, the NWIA has noted a retreat of 180 m per year on average since the 1990’s. The proglacial lake at the terminus continues to expand as the glacier retreats upvalley. The lake is deep and the valley has little gradient, thus the retreat will continue. It has been noted by researchers at Massey University that it is just to warm for the terminus area at 730 m to endure. Imagery of Tasman Glacier indicates the future it faces. There was no lake in 1973 and now it is more than 7 km long. The glacier drains a valley just east of the highest mountains in the range Mount Cook and Mount Tasman. . The image above has a blue line up the center of the glacier from the former terminus at the end of the lake too the head of the glacier. The upper image is from 2007 and the lower image from 2009. In the latter image the lake has expanded considerably. The disconnected lakes and debris covered ice on the left side-west side of the glacier has been replaced by all lake. Icebergs are afloat in this lake, they do not survive very long. The debris cover itself insulates the glacier ice from melting, slowing the process. However, the process due to the warmth and increased melting of the last decade has been increasing.

In the image below is a closeup of the section of ice that has now disintegrated, before it did. You can see the crevasses in some of the icebergs too. This is a rapidly changing environment due to the ongoing climate warming.

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