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INVENTORY OF TEWINAL POSITION CHANGES IN ALASKAN COASTAL SINCE THE 1750's

MAYNARD M. MILLER Foundation for & Environmental Research Pacific Science Center Seattle, WA 98109

Repnnted frum PEmEEDIhGS OF THE? .LmHCAi"; PNfLOXlPNlCAL SOCIETY, Vnl 108, No 3, June, 196-4 INVENTORY OF TERMINAL POSITION CHANGES IN ALASKAN COASTAL GLACIERS SINCE THE 1750's

MAYNARD M. MILLER

Dep;~rttnerltof Geology, Michigan State Ilniversity, a~idthe Fountlation fnr Glacier Research, Seattle, \Vashingtori

THE PROGRAM OF REGIOXAI, GLACIER graphic records at established control stations, a SURVEYS 1 long-negative Zeiss-Ikon camera, a Speed Graphic 'I'ris neetl for a syste~naticand up-to-date in- or a Keystone F10 photogran~metriccamera were \entory of glacier positions in the cordilleran employed. The aerial photographs were taken r:lrlges oi Sot~theril~\laska first became apparent either with a 90 111111. German aerial Handkammer, io lue \vliile participating in two glacial illapping a Fairchild 4 x 5-inch I<-20 camera or the afore- c5sl)ecli tlons to the .ilaskan f-':ui~liandlein 1940 and mentioned F10. More than 2,700 ohlique photo- 1941 (Miller, 1940, 1913). As a result, each graphs and recorded o1)servations on 174 major sulnmer froin 1946 through 1953, I was for- glaciers have been obtained.' tunate enough to be able to undertake a pro- gram of ground and aerial surveys of termini GLACIOLOGICAL PROVINCES IN SOUTH ;untl nCvi.-line positions on Alaskan coastal glaciers COASTAL ihlilier. 1947. 1918, 1949. 1954). The project For convenience. southeastern coastal Alaska \\:is further extended by selective photography is divided into seven glaciological provinces de- :~nclniapping carried out in 1954, 1955, 1958, and lineated on the nlap in figure 3. At least 80 per 1060 with tile support oi the Foundation for cent of the glaciers in Alaska are in these prov- G1:lcier liesearch (Dudley anct lliller, 1959; Mil- inces. The main locations of concentrated land ler, 1960 ; Sliller, Jenkins and Elmore, 1963). are shown in figure" 1. Out of the total nutnber of In 1961 and 1962. with the aid of grants froin the coastal glaciers in Alaska only those of the Kenai ."\~neriran I'lliiasophicai Society and the Satioiial 13eninsula and the Aleutian Islands are oinittetI ( ;eographic Society. the survey of major coastal from this grouping, since these were not involvetl glaciers in Southeastern Alaska was brought in the 1914 Tarr and Slartin study (1914) with r1p to date. A study of the behavior pattern which basic con~~arisonsare ~nade. Listetl in ot tl?rse ternlini over the past several centuries geographical sequence froin south to north the iras lteen facilitated by the con~parisonof rec- pertinent districts are : ords ol)tained in this continuing field effort. 12. tikine District (Lat. 56'-5SoX.) ioti:e I-estllts of the study are presented in this 13. 'Taku River District (Lat. 5S0-59'3O'N.) i).i~)er. 17s~~rcialiyemphasi~etl is the regional C. Glacier Bay Dlstrict (Lat. 58"-59°K.) yl;~cierA~tctrl:ltion since tile 1750's. 11. Chilkat District i 'i.at. 59"-59'30'X.) In tlic nsscssment, rnore than 1,500 miies of E. Litrryx Bay District iLat. 58"-59°K.) co,ibtlirle are considered, from TVraiigell Sarrows 17. LIo~~iitSt. Illlias District (Idat.50'-C31°30'N.) .it 1-:ititucIe 5G0X. to Cook Inlet at Latitude G. IJrlnce \Villia~n Soui~d ,iiltl tile ('lii~gacli 61 "31'S Tile o~ern11 region concerned is noted 1:nnge (I.at. 60"-61°30'S.) i re1 Tlie routes of aerial and grifu~lrl

\liTl?)'b are ii1tiic:iletl Oil the ilial) of figure 2. 2 G!;iciers :arger than eight square iriiles i:~area. Tile '1 ?le\c surveys were iirntle n it11 locally chartered photograpl~ic recorti is or? file at the Fo~inriation ior xircrztft nntl small vessels provicieii i)y the L'. S. Glacier liesearch, Inc., Seattle, Washington, U. S. A. It is further zoted that in 1940 aerial tri~netrogonphoto- I;ori.st Service and the S:itioilal Park Service. graphs of southeastern Alaska were taken for mappitrg L;nr r11e ground work. c? ~ll(iiliit;iii~transit and n I)urI)l)ses by tile U. S. Army .%ir Corps. This \vas \\'iitl 'I',? tiieotioIite were iisetl. For tIie phc~to- followcci by V. S. Savy di:uetrogoir ~)Ilot~)g:-;ijjliyiri 194S, ivith ii~riitetia~itiitionai coverage in 1958 aixl 1962. This "Vith t!~c i,ipport of a qra~it iron: the Atnericar~ iilaterial is filed hp the TS. S. Geological Survey at tile i'~~tio~c,~~iricalSoctety, 1961. 1)eiivcr Fetlcrai Center, Coioratlo. l'itO{'t.l ti: '<(,< (ti' 'TIIIC ,\\i!~:l<$('$X !,ti i~O~~i'l~lC~\I,SOCIETY. VOL. 258 \itl\.S*-iRD 11. IfiI,LER [PROC. AMER. PI~IL.SOC.

FIG.1. Gerleral map of Alaska and adjacent areas.

Subdivisions of each district are given in table In the following pages, the itasic tiifferences ant1 1, which also summarizes the principal facts irom similarities in regime pattern ill each district are the 1946-1962 surveys. In this table tile terms consitleretl. "shrinking glaciers" and "expanding glaciers" are used to refer to changes- in volume oi the terminal 1. THE STIKINE DISTRICT sections as expressed by thinning or tltickening This region derives its nartte irom the Stikine rather than to observed changes of movement River, a large antecedent river draining fro111 tile within the ice. When a glacier is described as interior of northern British Coltrinbia and trail- "advancing" or "retreating" (receding) the con- secting the Alaskan-Canadian Coast Range to notation is still one of increase or decrease in reach sea level at iVrangel1. .4s shown by the volume; but the emphasis is on changes in lateral limits of rectangle ,4 in figure 3, all the glaciers position of the termini. It is recognized that between the and the Taku Valley, spasmodic and irregular Iaterai shiits in position 130 miles to the north, are groupetl under this are usually attended by velocit? changes : hut this heading. The district is extremeiy mountaii~ous cannot be evaluated without fielcl measurement. and has all the characteristics of a coast line of 7. 1he reference to "equilihriun~glac~ers" in~piies a submergence. with ntrmerous inshore isIant1s ant1 static condition in which the factors controliing deeply indented fiords. "it sea level it is a region accr~mulation and wastage are rnore or less in of heavy rain forests. Inland, the mountains are 1)alance. In this tahie, of course. the jt~tlgmenthas not as high as the ranges farther north, averaging heen nlarie only from the ohsrrvr(1 Iteh;tvir,r of only 5.0feet: however, the terrain is rnggeil termini. anti there are Ioc:~l, 11r;tviI~gl;ici:tteti zoncs :it lligll VOL. $08, NO. 3, l4)64] ALASKAN COASTAL GLACIERS 250

FIG.2. Routes of regional glacier surveys in southeastern Alaska, 19461962. elevation. The major glaciation at present is the Eighteen major glaciers drain westward towards Stikine Icefield, 30 illiles northeast of Petersburg the coast. -411 were photographed in the regional (figs. 1 and 3) where the range culminates in the survey; but for purposes of the present study, suminits of Devil's Thumb (9,077 it.), ICates only the large valley glaciers on the west are con- Keedle (10,002 ft.) and hlount Ratz (10,290 ft.). sidered. These reach low Ievel and five of them Some ten notabie giaciers flow froin the Stikine debouch into the prominent fiords known Icefield in an easterly and southerly direction. as LeConte Bay, Tracy Arm, and Endicott Arm.

FIG.3. Principal glaciological provi~~cesin south coastal Alaska, TAELE 1

REGIME STATISTICS FROM 1946-62 RECONNAISSANCE SURVEYS OF MAJOR GLACfERS IN SOUTH AND SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA

(b) FOrCVP fiorlcr Po Sp+r, Rfvrr

4ND N/GN C4KY SU8'CONnXEY).AI---

LOW P /N7

AiAa/T/&&

D. CHILKAT DISTRICT I E. LITUYA BAY 1 1 DISTRICT 1 F STELIAS DISTRICT (a) Y~~UP~PB~Y 8 Brabaron Ran3 e 29 24 3

row K /.wr

&,a9/?,B8

;Y % AS 4lrC€R&FO ITZ? /N TM/d COLL/M&'.'- LOW ECKVATION = /-30OOFt

i.Y7&.4'MKOM )-f &LC-V. :3-So00 &. HIGH 6dCVA T/ON rn SO00 FC. dnd ~~OYC vot. los, NO.3, 19641 ALASKAN COASTAL GLACIERS 261

Infrequent observations on only a very few the capital city of Alaska, Juneau. This icefield glaciers have been made in this district. From covers more than 1,500 square miles and is the the scanty record and the information obtained in most heavily glaciated sector along the axis of the this survey, the apparent regime pattern covering Coast Range. The highland has the appearance the past thirty years has been deduced. Where of being ice-flooded with a much larger percent- estimates are necessary, the writer has been con- age of nPvC exposed than detached ridges and servative and thus it is believed that the summary nunataks. The uppermost snowfields crest at in table 1 represents the situation within reason- 6,300 to 6,500 feet and the highest peaks reach able limits. The dominant characteristic of these elevations of over 8,0433 feet (e.g., Devil's Paw, ice masses has been shrinkage with only a few 8,584 ft. and Mount Nesselrode, 8,100 ft.). The of them near equilibrium. There is, however, one southeastern half of the icefield consists mainly notable exception. This is the large ice stream of the Taku-Llewellyn Glacier system which, at known as Baird Glacier, lying east of Frederick one point, stretches for a distance of 75 miles Sound at the head of a small inlet called Thomas across the Coast Range. Bay. This glacier has experienced a significant All the major ice tongues descend to low levels and continuous advance over a period of many from this upland and with one striking exception years. It is a trunk glacier with six tributary have been diminishing in size over the past three arms, the central one being 28 miles long and to four decades. As with the Stikine Icefield, averaging 2 miles in width. It has a fairly con- the exception is the main trunk glacier, the Taku, sistent gradient of 3" and is nourished from a which comprises a unit about 40 miles in length broad upland nPv6 lying mainly between 4,000 extending southward from the crestal nCv6 or and 5,000 feet. Parts of this nPvP extend into present high glacial center of the Juneau Icefie!d the summit area of the Stikine Icefield. and which terminates at tide level in Taku Inlet. At the time of my first visit in 1941, the termi- For some decades this glacier has been strongly nus rested on a gravel delta, with one mile of and continuously pushing forward in a spectacular oirtwash separating it from the sea. The ice advance. An account by Captain George Van- front was only a few feet from a forest trim-line couver indicates that another important advance marking a position attained about 1935. Judging occurred in historic times, as the upper end of from the mature nature of the forest and the iarge Taku Inlet appears to have been blocked by ice size of the trees with which the ice had come in when he visited it in 1794. We notes that there contact, this was undoubtedly the most advanced were "immense bodies of ice that reached per- position for some centuries and from the absence pendicularly to the surface of the in the of outer moraines and other geomorphic evidence basin which admitted of no landing place for the it is assumed to represent the post-Glacial maxi- boats" and so much floating ice, especially at the mum. By 1946 a 300-foot recession' had taken entrance of the inlet. that "a passage was with place on the southeast margin, but the main sec- difficulty effected" (Vancouver, 1801 : 3 : p. 278). tion of the front was still well forward. Flights This is quite unlike conditions today where very over the terminus in 1958 and 1960 showed that few icebergs are seen. it was slightly farther back and somewhat thinner, This not only suggests considerabiy more ex- 1111t still within several hundred feet of the dense pansion than at present but also that the glacier forest fringing the shores of Thomas Bay. was then suffering retreat from a maximum which had occurred sometime before. Since Vancouver 2. THE TAKU DISTRICT mentions that this "basin" was about thirteen This area lies at the northern end of the Alas- miles inland from the mouth of the inlet (1801: kan-Canadian Coast Range and is bounded on the 6: pp. 25-27), it would seem that the ice front south by the valley of the Taku River and on the at that time was somewhere near the place where north by the Skagway River which flows from the fiord narrows and then widens again due tt'hite Pass into the upper end of Lynn Canal. southeast of Norris Glacier {probably close to The boundaries which I have arbitrarily set for what is now called Taku Point). This is corrobo- the district are shown in frame B, figure 3. rated by local Thlingit accounts of an ice "- The most- impressive geomorphic feature is the rier" which at a time "before white man came" extensive network of glaciers comprising the prevented travel into the interior vaIley of the , immediately north and east of Taku River. That this barrier was removed by 262 MAYNARD M. MILLER [PROC. AMER. PHIL. SOC.

-FIG.4. FLUCTUATIONS IN LATERAL POSlTlON OF REPRESENTATIVE GLAGlER TEMN IN SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA, 1750-1960

--..---

1m moo (sSO a~ amao

i (a) wL1W mNo WSTR~CT (b) ST ELIAS rnsTRic~ (c) TAKU RIVER D~~TR~CT ALL GLACEFS wfB NOT- WAV€ TWFRWS iCI SAY. YAKUTAT B1Y. 8 RUSYLL FIORD MU-UZ1EUVN GLICER SVSTEY. JUEW hEmD / (I)FOR EACH UACIER TWZ ZERO WSlTlON ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE GRPPH IS AT TM F1WC.W ME (4) W I@ WTA PRIOR TO 1931 AfTER FIELD (IIREFERPICE PCNT IS CENTER OF ICE FRONT UNLESS OTHERWE NOTE0 (5) /LRROWS INWCATE D9WE (4 I OR RETREAT ( t I 1 (3)NOE DIFFERENT SCLE OF MILES IN EbCH GROUP 1 --- ESTMATED tENRPL TREND BETWEEN KNOW POSITIONS o momm POSITION FROM SURMTS. MAPS, m ccwwa~lv~wros - OBSERVED EEtUmm . RrlOB4BLE POSTON -TED BY RECORD Of ERY EXRORER .... . --..-FYTDB- "--,-" ITFn WU&VICIF1 r MOn W-MW ATTRNTED TO EFFECTS Of 1899 EPIRTl.iOWS - .-HYPOTHETICAL TREND OF ICE FRONT WERE IT IMID-BWNE - MTED RECESSIMUAL McRAWS BY TREE- RING WALYSIS P EXACT DATE UUXNGWN ESTMTED LOSS BY ATTfW!ON IN CONSEOENCE OF CALVING O--- RANGE Of DATWG ERR(*I

FIG.4. Fluctuations in lateral position of representative glacier termini in southeastern Alaska, 1750-1960. subsequent recession is certain, since during most 1961), have been experiencing consistent down- of the nineteenth century Taku Inlet and its wasting and lateral "shrinkage," especially since headward valley were used regularly by the na- the decade of the 1920's. tives to cross the Coast Range to the Atlin dis- trict. In the 1870's to 90's this famous old trail 3. GLACIER BAY DISTRICT was also commonly used by prospectors until the This district lies 100 miles due west of Juneau disco~eryof , in the vicinity of and is shown within frame C of figure 3. The Skagway. of Glacier Bay now fiii a broad palmate DendrochronologicaI studies shorn that this valley with two main channels, one of which is glacier reached such an advanced position in 1755 60 and the other 90 miles long. In 1794, when (Lawrence, 1950) ; but it is not certain whether Captain Vancouver first passed the nlouth of the native account refers to this surge or to an Glacier Bay ( 1801 : 5 : pp. 421-422 3, he observed even earlier one. that this great depression was filled with ice. The The variation of ten important glaciers in the sea\\-ay to the south he named "Icy Strait'' be- Taku district are illustrated ir, figure 4. In this cause oi the countless bergs calving from the diagram, the present advance oi :he Taku Glacier extensive glacial cliff which then blocked the en- is shown in comparison with the general pattern trance to the present bay. Sow only infrequent of retreat. Elsewhere in the district, ali ice bergs can be seen drifting out of the inner chan- bodies which are not connected with the Juneau nels and fiords where but a few remnants of the Icefield, such as Wright and Sittakanay Glaciers former ice sheet are found. and others occupying cirques along the sides of The phenomenal disappeance of ice has brought the Taku River valley and Lynn Canal (Miller, many visitors to Glacier Bay in recent years, so YOL. 108, NO. 3, 19641 ALASKAN COASTAL GLACIERS 263 that a number of records and photographs have has a behavior quite out of phase with the others. been made since 1880, starting with those of This appears to bear relationship to the elevation Muir (1893), Wright (1887; 1891), and Reid distribution of these nivis, since each is at a (1892 ; 1896). I first visited the district in 1940 different level. Recent advances of some magni- while on a survey expedition to the Brady Ice- tude have also occurred on two large valley gla- field at the southern end of the Fairweather ciers which reach tidewater in Tarr Inlet. These Range. At that time this fiord, which is more receive nourishment from tributaries at fair ele- than 2,000 feet deep, had experienced an unprece- vations in the vicinity of Mount Fairweather, dented recession, losing nine miles of ice in the which is the highest peak in the range. One is thirty-three years since 1907. Details of such a lobe of Grand Pacific Glacier which came for- staggering diminution of the whole Glacier Bay ward half a mile between 1941 and 1951 to a posi- ice-sheet in the 1920's and 1930's, followed by the tion from which it has only slightly fluctuated in rapid encroachment of seed plants on the deglaci- the subsequent interval to 1962. The other is de ated terrain, were first presented in two papers by Margerie Glacier which advanced a quarter mile Cooper (1923 ; 1931). In a later paper (1937 : in the period 1941-1951 and has similarly main- ~1).47-45), he showed by ecological methods that tained this position without significant change the great Glacier Bay ice sheet reached its post- over the last decade. It should also be mentioned Glacial ~naxin~unl,near the i~louthof Glacier Bay, that Carroll Glacier, in Queen Inlet, experienced shortly after 1700 and that the major recessional thickening and advance in the decade 1941-1951, trend set in sonleti~llebetween 1735 and 1785. with slow thinning and retreat through 1962. There was a marked slowing down in the recession In this district I also include the glaciers of the I~etween1880 and 1899, the rate during this period Alsek River Valley. These have been dominated 1)eing only half the average which had been in by shrinkage and retreat paralleling that in Glacier rffect since 1794. The only known readvance was Bay. Several of the largest glaciers are tran- :i short-lived one in the 1890's which was probably section types which connect through to the Muir re1:~tetl to this "slowing down" period. and Grand Pacific icefields. The Alsek River 111 1941, together with itT.0. Field on another joins the ocean at Dry Bay just north of the Fair- II l:~p~)ingsurvey in Glacier Bay, we observed that weather Range, spiitting it off from the main silrinl\-age was still going on at a rapid rate on ramparts of the St. EIias Mountains (fig. 1). Sluir Glacier in the eastern arm of the bay. We The existence of this valley permits maritime con- measured a total recession of 12 illiles from this ditions to prevail far inland, reaching nearly to gi;icier's 1899 frontal position. (The map of this Glacier Bay on the inner side of the Fairweather survel* wit11 an expla~:atory report has been - peninsula. This orographical situation has helped li411etl I)?- the .\lnerican Geographical Society, greatly to accelerate the retreat of ice in both I;iel(l. 1947.) 'I'l~at the shrinkage coiltiiluetl in an the itlsek and Glacier Bay sectors after the main :tcceler;itecl f;~shion until 1946 has been verified nineteenth-century recessioi~al trend was estall- ilk 111y ground recortls in that year. lished. Sl y further aerial surveys in 1947, 1948, 1951, l'~5.2ant1 most recently in 1961, show that over 4. THE CHILKAT DISTRICT t11r past rlecarle 2nd a half a general slowing down Northwest of Skagway lie the Chilkat Moun- of the recession rate of soille of these glaciers, tains from which we take the name of this district si~~iilnrto that reporteti in the W's, has again (frame D, fig. 3). Here there is a small ice- occ~~rreti.This conciusioli was further verified field whose glaciers are thinning and in retreat, 1)y ground 01)serv:ttions and pl-iotography while Forty nliies to the southwest, however, along the i-voccupying sonle of our old photogrammetric southern boundary of this district are ten or more \t:itiotis ilr Septeni1,er. 1962. fair-sized glaciers which are close to equilibrium. 111 several instances there have been lllinor Several of them have, in fact, expanded some- rr.:rttv;~nces. 'The advances are especially noted what in the past fifteen years. These are ice :ilirr)~:g a grolrp of eleven liar~ging ice tongues tongues which flow northward from a serrated kshich cling to the fiord wall of Johns Hopkins 7,000-foot range lying between Glacier Bay and Inlet. 'Their source is x series of hanging valleys Tsirkti and Takhin River valleys. One of tllese lillrrl wit11 fir91 at ixlterrne(Iiate to 11ig-11elevations. is the Tsirku Glacier which has advanced more \I1 :tl>txa:it- \tsiiiit ii t. c:i\u;d v:tri:&tions ;ti~(le:lch tll;in x quarter of a n-iile since 1910. This glacier 51. MILLER [PROC. ABIER. pan. soc. shares a neve with Carroll Glacier, mentioned graphs obtained during our survey of 1961, how- above as one of the slightly resurgent glaciers of ever, reveal a slight reversal in trend on several the Glacier Bay complex. Three uther large ice major tongues. tongues in tl~eTsirku valley have terniini which -A few details of this pattern are important. up through tlie 1950's )sere well forward. Geo- The most southerly ice tongue is the Brady Gla- logical reports on this tlistrict :inti photographs cier, which finds its source in the Brady plateau t;~kerlby the Houndar! Con~~itissio~ibetween 1905 at the southern tip of the peninsula. The Brady ;~nd1910 show that two of tileni. the Takhin and Glacier was first sighted by Captain Vancouver on tIe Iilo~ltleat~Glaciers. rsperielice

Fra~i~eF, figure 4, is a region cot-rrctl b! uj)\v:trtis spectively one a~itlthree 111iles offshore froin the of 10,000 square nliles of ice. -\> i~itile Lit~i!:~ present mouth of Icy Bay relates to glacial max- clistrict, this coast is devoid oi iioi-(1s :trid iulcts ima i,~recent tiines. 'fhe inner one is an exten- with the exception of 1-akutat Bay :tncl Icy Eay sion of Icy I-'oint 011 the western side of the (fig. 2), wllere the 1:trgest valley glaciers rr:lch entrance and is at the glacier's observed 1888- the sea. T\\o uf these glaciers clr:ti~i ir~t~lthe 1904 pcbsition. It probably represents the latest ilir,xt extensive 114vci.s on the Sort11 .\n~ericnn ~lraxi~ntun.while the outer inoraine would appear contilielit. to have bee11 built by an earlier and stronger ad- So previous itivestigitior-is liatl :tee11 r~larlc in vance. Fronl the foregoing, it seems probable Icy 13ay prior to our grouncl st~~(lic.oi 1940 :~nd that the retreat from the earlier advance coin- none in Yakutat Bay since 'I'arr ;~nti S1;trtin's cided with the nineteenth-century recession of n~onuiiiental field work ill 1913 ( Sfiller. 1948) . liuir Glacier and others in Glacier Bay. This is In 1948 and 1951 and again in 1961 ;inti 1001, we given credence by the records of early explorers were able to supplen~ent the observations with and details of native history fro111 this area. additional ground and aerial material. Froni tliis Tebenkoi ('18.18 and 1852), a Iiussian cartog- irifor~nation,the regime grapl~ill lipre 4 has rapher, nlade a chart in 1848 based 011 log books 1)een drawn. of Russian navigators who explored this coast In this figure a representative grcnip oi gl;tciers between 1788 and 1807. His chart shows a deep in this district is considered. 7'ht. esterlsivr wedge-shaped re-entrant east of present-day Icy (;uyot Glacier. which is comparnblr ill its catch- Cape. Here was definitely a bay. five miles wide ~nentarea to the former llnir Icr 1:ieltl of and extending northward about eight miles, with (;lacier Bay, is seen to ha~esuEereti excessive. . the water on its western shore lapping against a s!iri:ikag:: and retreat from a ;:iaxii;lu;u i><;s;tit>ii lengthy ice froiit, tlic ot1teri11osii end of wiiicll re:tched about 1888. .it that ti~nethere was no reached all the way out to tile mouth of the bay. Icy Bay. But between 1904 and 1009 recession Behind the bay and the ice front a tree-covered began which, continuing to 1951. caused liitee11 surface is indicated. On the opposite sllore trees miles of bay to open up and Inore tI;:~n 1.500 are sho\vn on the chart, some oi tilein growing feet of thinning to take place at the colnbined close to another large glacier farther illland terminus of the Guyot and Tyntlall qlnciel-s. In toward the east. This fact was substa~ltiatedby the decade to 1961, continuing and vigctrot~sre- observations in 1936 along tlir inner shores of the treat produced another four n~iles{ti ope11 water Bay where ~vefound tree trmilis in sitls 1)eiiig es- :ti the Guyot terminus; with .srp;trntion of the liumed froin glacial gravel only rece~~tlytm- Tyntlall Glacier taking place rtbot~t 1053. Iiy the covered by the thinned anti receding Guyot ice stunlner of 1963, the Guyot Glacier tcr~liinushad sheet. 'i'he presence Of n forest here agrees \\.it11 further separated into two tidal ;irins. the e;tstern- t11e native account ~~ieiitionrti1)elow ant1 sht~ws iiiost front lying nearly one mile I)acL fro111 the the contrast to the contlitions shown on 'l'opha~il's i:ttr 1961 position l-ioted in iigure .k. l{y the sketch n-iap oi 1PSS and on the larger niap OI rncl of 1963 the tidal terminus ;it tlir wcSstc.rnarm I. C. Iiussell in 1591. 1:acli of these indicates the Guyot Glacier was about six iiirle~i;trtI~rr only 3 solid front of ice. Yet, oniy a 11alf-centr~ry I~ackthan the positioxl of 193%shotvn in the fig- before, the British explorer Sir Ed\varil Belcller tire (also Jliller et cd., 1963). 'Thi> Iiwnris that ( 1843 : pp. 79-50) rel~ortetl that ;in ice-rininiect Icy Bay is today aborit twenty rililes long. isitli its bay did exist ai :liis site. .in aclv;tnce inust inner reaches riniinect by three .pert:~crliar ice therefore 11a\.ta Itecn untlerway at timt (late to cliffs instead of one composite t~il:%lirc,~it \\it11 culminate in the ItW's :illti '90.3, as alre;t(ly \iliicli it has been ci~xracterizedz~i,cc. :i:v rilrn of noted. tllc centi~ry. The effect ha. l,i.r.ri tiit nlcisi 'I'hxr there w;is an enriier ;ttl\ance iii 1:istoric c:it;istrolhic of nriy recent g!;icrt.r rc.trv;~t in cinirs is s~qqiortetlIty tile iiil!otving :icco~rut~~IIIII \l;tskx. It is coinparable to the pIiciro~iit.i~:titlis- 'fhlingit tribal lii\tor\i given to nie iir 1940 114. :qq)earance of ice in Glacier C:i!. t2sctapt tiint the 1%. .\. j;tck, a ninety-year oltl native in Y:lkut;tt. opeliing of Icy Ray began :i cenrlir! 1:ttcr :1cd lias Iltz ~ntrrytretcr.;ill e(lucate(1 :i1i<1 highly respecteti i~eencolitenlporaneous wit11 the reiii;irL:iltle :id- tril):il ~jrincess.i~lio ;t~jlte;rred reli;ihle in her trat~s- sance of the Hubhard Glacier, as rlrsrriiietl I~el~tw.1;ttiorr. st:lted tllat he w:is the last direct desceirtle~lt The presence of two creqcentic st~lriiinr~iic.ritlges [ti :t l)r;~~~clrof ititrrir>r Copljcr I( iscr .\thapasc;t11s linvit~gthe al)fwnrance (ti In(tr:iilicbs :11i(1 I\ itig re- iiiict 11;itI i~iigrntrtl ~cttttl~tt:tt-cf ;11ii1 iii!t~r11tii1gIc(1 Frc. 5. Two views of simultaneourly advancing and retreatn~gglaciers 111 the St. EIias District. (a) Upper: Guyot C!acier. Six xniles oi recession has occurred at center of this ice front in the 25-year interval noted. Tile tleitris-filleti ice on the right is from the Tyndall Glacier. ib) Lower: Hubbard Glacier. Left background, Mout~t \;:lilcs)iivcr (15.820') and Mou~~tsHtilthard and Aiverstone (center backgrotxnd, ia. 15,000'). An advance oi tiirclv-rrrt:trit.rs of n mile llns rxcurrcrl r)n tlic iett iront in the interv;tl noted. P 11otograg)tis Ity Ii. R. W;r*lri~urti (19.38). 268 .\I,\\._\.-\IZL>\I. SIILLEIC IPKOC. AMER. PHIL. SOC. with the coastal Thlingits soille years before ivltite the Iiigher fields and n6vt5s of the main men came. ?.I he account can]; frotn his 1)ectlde part of the range toward the southeast. :ultl tlescribecl how they hat1 est:tl)lisltetl a settle- Practically all of the other twenty-eight gla- li~eliton the tllen green sllores of ICJ- 1%;1y. I-Ie ciers observed in this district have been shrink- toltl of a catastrophic acivance OF ice tlonn the ing rapidly in the past forty years. Only tltc 1):ty which hat1 tllreatenrtl the vi1l:tge ancl iorced f lullbard Glacier and Turner Glacier in Yakutat his forebears to flee. 'l'his rel)ort is in every hyare exceptions. Turner Glacier receives its \my sintilnr to tli;it given tc-I 'l'o~th:t~~t1)y (ieorge, ~nainsupply of ice at elevations above 5,000 feet the second Chiei of tile Yali-utats in lSSS i,T;trr in a steep-ivalled vaiiey reaching to high Ievels ;untl Martin, 1914 : p. 47). 011 the heavily-glaciated and avalanche-riven slopes TIlis is pertinent corroboratiort in spite of the ot SIotunt Cook (13.7GO ft.) . Froan the variations scepticisnl with which one ~iorm;~llyvieivs tletails in recorded tidal positions of this tertniiius fro111 of native-told history. 'The report that tltis fluc- 1909 until my 1916 thro~~gh1951 surveys it ap- tuation was before "white men &new \vc,ultl ~tiace peareci to Ile in equilibriuut; however, if we allow the advance before the tinte ol the concentrated for the effects of tidal action. from the regi~lle JCussian colonization along this coast in tlte 1790's standpoint it has heen undergoing a slow but :ud indeed probably well before it. since the first persistent advance. Such an advance, in fact. explorer reached this coast in 1741. 'l'lie ice is corroborated by the slightly expanded position cliff in contact with the "forested" west shore of revealed by comparison of the 19461951 photrts Icy J:ay on Tebenkof's map was oi)hervetl some- ant1 those obtained in 1961 and 1962. The rela- time after the advance and \\.a> itiobt likely a tionship is iilustrated in figure 411. diininishing remnant of tlte western lobe of the The Hubbard Glacier, at the head oi inner Guyot which had destroyed the village. ii this 1-akutat Eay (fig. 5b). exhibits tile strongest tie- nss~uuption is correct, it \vas oj)servecl cluring a parture irom the district pattern. This is a witlv recessional stage and the forest on tile rPel)enkof valley glacier with a spectacular frontal ice cliff chart was interstadial. Eighty to ninety years uhiclt is one of the largest and n~ostimpressive in would have been required for sucli a grc~~-tI~to Surth America. Since about 1890 it has been es- seed and develop into trees large enough to periencing a continuous and steady advance, which warrant mention by the 1iussi;tn cartographer. as of 1962 began to threaten closure of the el:- From this I estimate that the Clayr~tice sheet be- trance to Russell Fiord. In fact, today the terrni- gan to recede no later than 1700. l'l~usihe first ~iusis 1)ut a scatit 500 yarcis fro111 Osier Point in advance would have been in progress iii tlie eariy inner Disenchantinent Bay ( ;\Tiller, Jenkins ant1 or middle seventeenth century,

TABLE 2

I I Pacentage d Termini No. of Glaciers Dominant Pusistent . Shrinkage Eguilibrium* I Advan@ District A (Stikine) District B (Taku) Dieeict C (Glacier Bay) DiiD (Chilkat) District E (Lituya) District F (St. Elias) DiictG (Chugach) All Districts

- - * Including termini close to equilibrium but still showing fluctuations either towards shrinkage or gradual expansion. ** Glaciers also near to their post-Glacial maximum. in the right hand column of table I). The sig- Simultaneous advance and retreat in adjacent nificance of this factor in explaining the larger glaciers has been reported in parts of Iceland proportion of advancing glaciers in these latter (Thorarinsson, 1940 : p. 135) and Patagonia districts is corroborated by the fact that the outer (Nichols and Miller, 1952). Periodic reports on maritime provinces receive from 80 to 100 per French, Swiss, Italian, and Austrian glaciers (e.g., cent more precipitation annually than the inner see Mercanton, 1948, and Journal of maritime and sub-continental areas, and as much listings through 1960) also show that over the as 800 per cent more than the continental areas past thirty years while 91 to 96 per cent of the lying close behind the coast ranges. Likewise, the Alpine glaciers have been retreating, about 2 sea-level stations at Cordova and Yakutat often per cent have remained stationary and from 2 to receive 200 to 300 per cent more snowfall than 5 per cent have advanced. However, the pro- the sea-level station at Juneau. The rainfall pat- portion of equilibrium and advancing glaciers in terns at the mouth of Glacier Bay (Gustavus) and Alaska is much higher than in any comparable in the Chilkat District (Haines) appear as gra- region in the world; and nowhere else has the dational between the continental and maritime contrast been so pronounced nor has it been seen extremes. on such a large scale. The pattern has also been TO sum up the regional pattern, in spite of so consistent over such a wide range of latitude marked differences in the geographical factors (56" to 6ZcK.) that a causal factor must be affecting glacier nourishment, the dominant char- involved which is of broad regional proportion acteristic throughout Southeastern Alaska during and of fundamental gIobai importance. tile past fifty years has been shrinkage. The re- cessional rate on many- -glaciers, especially those SUMXARY COMMENT having source nkvks at low eievation, became much Although from the given it has accelerated in the 1920's. For many of those with been possible to the basic regional pat- high nivks. a slower retreat took place in the tern of coastal glacier osciIIations over the past 1920's and '30'5, while a few have experienced spasmodic readvances between 1935 and the pres- two centuries, the picture is compIex and many ent. ~h~ departures details remain unclarified. Mere consideration of froIll the general trend have heen on large trunk changing terminal positions of glaciers withorrt g~aciers. F~~ each such case of ad- concern for related orographical and ~neteorologi- vane-, however, there has been a n;arked and cal factors in their catchment areas can only re- contemporaneous retreat of another valley glacier sult in partial answers to the critical cjuestions of comparable size. Invariably, this opposite be- concerning cause of the advance and retreat. havior has been on glaciers coming from the same full understanding of the regime of these Alaskan or adjoining nCvCs. ice masses, both in terms of the larger relation- MAYNARD M. MILLER [PKOC.AMER. PHIL. SOC. ship of Pleistocene Cordilleran glaciations and to - 1937. "The Problem of Glacier Bay, Alaska, A the fluctuating clintatic events following the Study of Glacier Variations." The Geographical Review 27 : 37-62. Thermal Maximum, requires a thorough, long- - 1942. "Vegetation of the Prince William Sound tern1 glaciological and geophysical investigation Region, Alaska; with a Brief Excursion into Post- of selected ice masses from termini to source area Pleistocene Climatic History." Ecological Mono- and in three dimensions as well. Where possible, graphs 12: 1-22. such research should be concentrated on prototypi- DUDLEY,D., and M. M. MILLER. 1959. Glacier Photo Surveys, Alaska-Canada Boundary Range, 1954 and cal glacier systems having characteristics of the 1955. Internal Report, Foundation for Glacier Re- larger regional pattern. search, Seattle. FIELD,W. 0. 1932. "The Glaciers of the Northern ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Part of Prince William Sound, Alaska." The Geo- graphical Reviezv 22, 3: 361-368. The studies here described have been carried -1947. "Glacier Recession in Muir Inlet, Glacier Bay, Alaska." The Geographical Review 37, 3: 369-399. out over nearly a quarter of a century. The INTERNATIONALBOUNDARY COMMISSION. 1923. "Inter- following individuals have given substantial and national Boundary Between United States and Canada much appreciated assistance in the field: Sam from Cape Muzon to Mt. St. Elias." Sheets 1 to Chapman, David Dudley, Charles Jenkins, Ed- 13, 1:250,000. ward L. Keithahn, William R. Latady, Walter KLOTZ,0. J. 1899. "Notes on Glaciers of South-Eastern Alaska and Adjoining Territories." Geographical Lockwood, W. Wallace Miller, David M. Potter, Journal 14, 5: 523-534. 111, David M. Potter, IV, Barry W. Prather and LAWRENCE,D. B. 1950. "Glacier Fluctuations for Six Frederick A. Small. For making available early Centuries in Southeastern Alaska and its Relation to information and records acknowledgment is also Solar Activity." Geographical Review 40, 2: 83- 104. made to W. O. Field and H. B. Washburn, Jr. MERCANTON,P. L. 1948. "Rapport Sur Les Variations The following men have provided important as- Des Glaciers De 1935 i 1946 (47), (Alpes frantaises, sistance to the aerial photographic program as suisses, italiennes et autrickiennes), Prods verbaux pilots: Col. Wm. Elmore, Dean Goodwin, Hunt des seances de 1'Association Internationale d'Hy- Gruening, Roy Holdiman, Arlo Livingston, Ken- drologie Scientifique." U.G.G.I.Tome I1 : 233-234. MILLER,D. J. 1960. "Giant Waves in Lituya Bay, neth Loken, Terris Moore, Lowell Thomas, Jr., Alaska." U.S.G.S., Prof. Paper 354-C: 51-56, 15 Ralph Warren. Acknowledgment is also given to iilus., 8 maps. the following agencies which have aided the sur- MILLER,M. M. 1940. "Fairweather Range, Alaska, 1940." veys by financial grants or direct services: Ameri- The Mountaineer 33, 1 : 48-52. can Philosophical Society, American Alpine Club - 1943. "Return to Glacier Bay (resume of glacier Research Fund, Alaskan Air Command (USAF) , studies in 1941)." Tltc il.(ozttttniitecr 36, 1 : 32-33. - 1947. "Alaskan Glacier Studies, 1946." Amoricatt Alaskan Air National Guard, Arctic Institute of Alpine Journal 6, 3 : 339-343. North America, Civil Air Patrol, U. S. Forest - 1948. "Observations on the Regimen of the Gla- Service. National Park Service (Superintendent, ciers of Icy Bay and Yakutat Bay, Alaska." Un- Glacier Bay National Monument j , National Geo- published Master's Thesis, Columbia University. graphic Society, the Foundation for Glacier Re- - 1949. "Aeriai Survey of Alaskan Glaciers, 1947, search, Gulf Oil Corporation, Ahrams Aerial A.A.C. Research Fund Report KO. 7." Antcricaiz Afpirze Jotrrnal 7, 2: 174-177. Survey Corp. and the Resa Research Fund of the - 1954. Photographic Survey of South Alaskan Society of Sigma Xi. Glaciers in 1948-52. Internai Report, Foundation for Glacier Research, Seattle. REFERENCES - 1958. "The Role of Diastrophism in the Regimen of Glaciers in the St. Elias District, Alaska." Jour- BELCHER,CAPT. SIR EDWARD.1843. Narrative of a nal of Glaciology 3, 24: 292-297. Voyage Round fke World () I. - 1960. Glacier Photo Records in the Boundary BROWN,D. 1952. "Glaciers Advance." Appalnchia 29, and Fairweather Ranges, 195860. Internal Report, 1 : 41-44. Foundation for Glacier Research, Seattle. ChNiilJ1~~BOCNDARY SURVEY. 1895. "iitias of Award." - 1961. "'4 Distribution Study of Abandoned Cirques Rlaska~r Borrndary Tribunal 1: 160,000. Sheets 14, in the Alaska-Canada Boundary Range." Geology 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. of the Arctic (University of Toronto Press) 2: COOPER,W. S. 1923. "The Recent Ecologicai History 833-847. of Glacier Bay Alaska." Ecology 4: 93-128; 223- XILLER,M. M., C. JENKINSand W. ELMORE. 1963. 246 ; 355-365. Glacier Photography in Icy Ray and Yakutat Bay, - 1931. "A Third Expedition to Glacier Bay, Alaska." Alaska, 1961-1963. Internal Report, Foundation Ecology 12, 1 : 61-95. for Glacier Research, Seattle. ALASKAN COASTAL GLAGI ERS

MUIR, JOHS. 1893. "Xotes on the Pacific Coast Gla- THORARINSSOW,S. 1940. "Present Glacier Shrinkage ciers." A~aericanGeologist 11 : 287-299. and Eustatic Changes of Sealevel." Geografiska YICHOLS,R. L., and M. M. MILLER. 1952. "The Moreno An~aler22: 131-154. Glacier, Lago Argentino, Patagonia : Advancing Gla- U. S. WEATHERBUREAU. 1922. Summary of Climato- ciers and Searby Simuitaneously Retreating Gla- logical Data of Alaska, Section I (from establish- ciers." ioltrnal of Glaciology 2, 11 : 41-50. ment of stations to 1M1 inclusive), U. S. Dept. of REID, H. F. 1892. "Report of an Expedition to Muir Agriculture. Glacier, Pllaska, with Determinations of Latitude U. S. GEOLOGICALSURVEY. 1906. Plate XXXVII, Bul- and the Magnetic Elements at Camp Muir, Glacier letin 287. Bay." U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Dept. for - 1951-55. Alaska Topographic Map Series at scale the Fiscal Year Exding June 30, 1891: (Washhgton). of 1: 63,360. ---- 1896. "Glacier Bay and Its Glaciers." U. S. Geo- VANCOUVER,G. 1801. A Voyage of Discovery to the logical S~trvey,16th Annual Report, 1894-95, Part I : North Pacific Ocean (new edition in 6 v., London). 115-461. -- 1897-1915. "i-ariations oi Giaciers." Series of W-RIGHT,F. E. and C. W. 1908. Abstract in Reid's Occasiot~ai IZepox-ts in the Jozir~ial of Gcoloyy. report on The Variation of Glaciers. Joz~rnal of Geology 16: 51-53. 't'.\tcic. 1:. 5.. and I.. MARTIN. 1914. ,illaskarz Glacier b'ti