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Margerie Glacier Margerie Glacier
Grand Pacific Glacier Grand Pacific Glacier
Johns Hopkins Glacier Johns Hopkins Glacier
Lamplugh Glacier Lamplugh Glacier
Reid 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.
Margerie Glacier
Glaciers carry rocky debris mixed in with the ice. Here you can see a distinctive bending of a layer of debris.
Margerie Glacier
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.
Margerie Glacier
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.
 

Pictures  (click on picture for larger view)

Grand Pacific Glacier
The Grand Pacific glacier is blackened with rocky debris that has embedded itself in the glacial ice.
Grand Pacific Glacier
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)

Johns Hopkins Glacier
The Johns Hopkins Glacier is the only major tide-water glacier that is advancing further into the water.
Seagull on iceberg
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)

Lamplugh Glacier
The Lamplugh glacier is sandwiched between rocky slopes covered with sparse vegetation.
Lamplugh Glacier
Glaciers fracture constantly, leaving jagged patterns at the water's edge.
Lamplugh Glacier
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.
Lamplugh Glacier
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)

Reid Glacier
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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