Margerie Glacier
		Grand Pacific Glacier
		Johns Hopkins Glacier
		Lamplugh Glacier
		Reid Glacier

Margerie Glacier

The Margerie Glacier is an excellent example of a tide-water glacier -- that is, a glacier that extends into a body of water.

 

Pictures  (click on picture for larger view)
The Margerie Glacier's height is 250 feet. The glacier also extends another 100 feet below the water line. By comparison, the Statue of Liberty is 307 feet tall.	Glaciers carry rocky debris mixed in with the ice. Here you can see a distinctive bending of a layer of debris.
An ice cave forms in Margerie Glacier. The area in the ice cave is highly unstable as blocks of ice constantly break off the sides and splash into the water with a thunderous roar.	Glacier debris creates striking patterns against blue ices. The ice crystals in the glaciers appear blue. This is because the ice in the glacier absorbs shorter red and green wavelengths.

 

Grand Pacific Glacier

At 2 miles wide, the Grand Pacific is the widest of the tidewater glaciers in Glacier Bay.

 

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The Grand Pacific glacier is blackened with rocky debris that has embedded itself in the glacial ice.	The always present icebergs provide excellent protection for mother seals and their pups. Their major predators, orcas, do not like to swim in ice-filled waters.

 

Johns Hopkins Glacier

The Johns Hopkins Glacier is the only major tide-water glacier that is advancing further into the water. This is a relatively fast moving glacier -- the glacial ice moves about 3000 feet per year.

 

Pictures  (click on picture for larger view)
The Johns Hopkins Glacier is the only major tide-water glacier that is advancing further into the water.	A seagull rests on an iceberg. These large blocks of ice are always present in the waterways. Since 90% of an iceberg is underwater, ships need to keep a careful eye on them at all times.

 

Lamplugh Glacier

Like many of the glaciers in Glacier Bay, the Lamplugh glacier is receding. In less than one hundred years, this glacier will no longer be a tidewater glacier.

 

Pictures  (click on picture for larger view)
The Lamplugh glacier is sandwiched between rocky slopes covered with sparse vegetation.	Glaciers fracture constantly, leaving jagged patterns at the water's edge.
Like all tidewater glaciers, part of the leading edge is submerged. The Lamplugh glacier is 150-160 feet above water, and 10-40 feet below water.	An ice cave forms in the Lamplugh glacier.

 

Reid Glacier

The Reid Glacier is the fastest moving of the tidewater glaciers, averaging about 8 feet a day.

 

Pictures  (click on picture for larger view)

It's easy to underestimate the size of glaciers without any reference point, such as a ship. The Reid glacier is 150 feet above the water line and is 3/4 mile wide.

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