Galtfornta August OLOCY B Living Glee,Iers of Co Lifo Rn Io O,D,DA Ptcturestory
Singlecopy 251 ccEoA28(8) r69-r92 097s) GaLTFoRNTA August OLOCY b living glee,iers of Co lifo rn io o,D,DA PTcTUREsToRY
MARY HILL,Geologist CaliforniaDivision of Mines and Geology
In the 49 states south of Alaska, there are about I 100 glaciers.All are in the western states; Washington, Montana, California, and Wyoming have the lion's share (figure l, table l ). Much of the early work on California glaciers was done by pioneers of California geology--John Muir, Israel C. Russell,W. D. John- son, G. K. Gilbert, and A. C. Lawson. About 80 tiny glaciers lie in small cirques of the Cascades,Trinity Alps, and Sierra Nevada Ranges of a California (figure 2, table 2). These I interestingand accessibleglaciers are aa
\ Table 1. Number and size of glaciers in the United States Modifiedfrom U.S.Geological Su rye State ApproxrmateTotal glacier numberof area in g laciers square miles
Alaska 5000? About 17,000 't60 Washingtor 800
Wyoming 80 18
Montana 106 18
Oregon 38 8
California 80
Colorado 10? 1
,ldaho 11? I
'I Nevada 0.1 Figure1. Areas of existingglaciers in the western United States.(exceptAlaska and Hawaii). Modified from Am e ri c an Geographical Society. Utah 1? Or,1? 9
Figure3. MiddlePalisade glacier is madeupof the patchesof ice to the lett.lce patchesand the snow fieldsto the right are part of the snow and ice field in the peak shadow of MiddlePalisade (hiddenfrom view by clouds)that includesthe glacierthat bears its name and about 3 other small glacierets.Middle palisade Figure 2. Map showing existing glacier is about 1 1/2miles long, making it the largesi in the SierraNevaoa. glaciersin California.
products of the "Little Ice Age"-neoglacial times-of the past thousand years, rather than wasted giants of the great Ice Age that began some 3 million years ago and ended some I I ,000 years ago. In addition, California has a large number of rock glaciers that are composedof angular rocks similar to talus slopes but have the overall configurationof a glacier. The blocks and smaller rock fragments in a rock glacier are con- nectedby ice, which allows the entire mass to move as a glacrer moves.
The Palisadeglaciers Palisade glaciers, the southern- most glaciers in the United States, lie at the head of Big pine Creek, south and east of Mount Whitney. The Palisade peaks were named in 1878 by surveying parties under the direction of Captain George M. Wheeler. "Northwest" Palisade on his map is now North palisade peak and his "Southeast" Palisade is now Split Mountain. Middle palisade Figure4. Closerview of part of palisade (14,O49 feet), the mountain in figures Middle glaciershowing the debris derivedfrom its terminalmoraine. Like manysierran glaciers,Middle palilade glacier 3 and 4, was first c'liimbredin l9Z1 probably has an ice core.The face of the mountainshows a roundednotch to the left, by Francis P. Faiquahar and Ansel which serves as an "avalanche chute." The channel of the chute was probably F. Halli. smoothed and rounded by ice from earlier glacial times. photo by Ernestcartet. Table 2. Existingglaciers in California.* Mountainpeak and Approximateelevation associatedg laciers of lower and upper marginsof glaciers
(feet above sea level) CASCADE RAINGiE
1. Mount Shasta - Whitney,Bolam, Hotlum,Wintun, ano East of Weed, Siskiyou County Konwakitong laciers (ShastaiS-minute quadrangie;
TRINITYALPS
2. Thompson peak, Sawtooth 7500 - 9000 Mount ain-g laciers crest of the TrinityAlps (somesnow fields and s nowfields (Cecilvilleand Helena as low as 6400) 15-minutequadrangles) SIERRANEVADA
3. SawtoothRidge-many small glaciers Northeasternboundary of YosemiteNational parr (MatterhornPeak 15-mtnure quadrangle) 4. Mount Conness- Connessglacier and others to the southwest Northeasternboundary of YosemiteNational park (TuolumneMeadows 1S-minute quadrangle) 5. Mount Dana-Dana glacier 11,200- 12,300 Easternboundary of yosemrle NationalPark (Mono Craters 15-minutequadrangle) Kuna Peak, peak-several Koip 11,400- t2,600 g laciers Easternboundary of yosemite NationalPark (MonoCraters 15-minutequadrangle) Mount Lyell-Lyell glacier 11,500- 12.800 and other small glaciers Easternboundary of yosemrte to the northwestand NationalPark (Mercedpeak south and TuolumneMeadows 15- minutequadrangles) RitterRange-many small glacie rs Northwestof Devilspostpile NationalMonument (Devils Postpile15-minute quadrangle) Mount Abbot - several glaciers 12,000- 13,000 to the northwestand Northwestof Bishop,Inyo County southw_est (MountAbbot 1S-minutequadrangle)
Mount Humphreys- several 11,400- 12,800 glaciersto the northwesr West of Bishop,Inyo County(Mount Tom 15-minutequadrangle) GlacierDivide, Mount Darwin, Mount Haeckel,Mount powell_ Northeasternboundary of Kings Goetheglacier, Darwin CanyonNational park (Mount glacier,and many others Goddardand BlackcapMountain to the northwestand 15-minutequadrangles) southeast
Mount Goddard,Black Divide_ many g laciers NorthernKings CanyonNational Park (Mounl Goddard1S_minute quadrangle) The Palisades, Mount Bolton 11,200- 13,000 Brown,Split Mountain- Eastern boundaryof Kings Canyon pine PalisadeGlacier and many NationalPark (Big and other small glaciers Mount Goddard1S-minure quadrangles) '*Modified from 1964. Numbers those on the map in figure2. u
Figure 5. Norman Clyde in 1970. Photo by rorn Ross.
In 1973, a small glacier lying north of Middle palisade n"ui 6. NormanClyde peak, highestpeak ^-- ligrr" in background,in 1961. The gtacierin Elinore Lake was named ,,Norman :l:"11":""T""'"llJ?,,:T^"1""'"JT"",::.9'.1^":l:'".prominentbergschrund r.""vear wr uncommonrv dryA Clyde glacier" in honor of one of the snakesaround theioJ or tn" gr"cier.Berow it, the colormarks the rineof crear cila;Y; i; Sierra Nevada's foremost moun- ice;snow has'merted from the srrr"c"'oiit" gracier, taineers. leavingthe crystallineice visible.photo b,y iom-Ross. Norman Clyde (figure 5 ) crossed the glacier in 1930, when he made the firs t ascent of Norm an Clyde Peak (figure 6).
Lyell, McClure, and Dana glaciers
Three of California's best known existing glaciers are Lyell, McClure, and Dana (photos 7 through l3), ati within Yosemite National park. When theseglaciers were first explored and described, Yosemite Nati,onal park did not yet exist. Through the labors of John Muir, who first climbed Mount Lyetl and described its glaciers, and others interested in wilderness preservation, yosemite was set aside as a national park in l 890.
|i!:!fi;|;,,;; : ,,,:,ir-1: : .. 1.:r.].;', :li:',r,:ir:f;,ijir;r:; r.:r .:ii,:::: :,: A Ei^,,-^ a ^' . Flgure/. Map of Lyelland McClure ,:"'i gtacters t . in 1993.The map has essentiallv ,t";"1-ri'", .... the same orientationas tiguteg. Take'n from t.C. Russe//(18eil; W. D. Johnson, topogtapher.
Figure8. Drawingof Lyell glacier, madefrom a photographtat Figure10. lce ship on Lyellglacier. Manysmall glacialfeatures such as ice ships and ice tables (see CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY,February 1974, p. 40)can be ...... > seen on glaciers in YosemiteNational Park.All of the glaciersshow crevasses. DrawingbylG. K. Gilbert. Figure 11. Dana glacier,named in 't863 for James Dwight Dana, a prominentgeologist of that time, by members of the CaliforniaGeological Survey.Ten years later, 3 members of the survey-J. D. Whitney,W. H. Brewer, and C. F.Hoffman-made the first record- led ascent of the glacier. Note the moraines in the left center of the photograph.Photo by ErnestCarter. ; l w1 I r,$: ,l:t:l stilriE 'rs:;ii"' :\:- N' :::tl: :i1t ..'." \ Nii'i l $ff Figurel2 Group of hikers on the slopesof Dana glacier at the turn of the century.Note the ice cnute above movedas a the bergschrundat lHJTi,:li* ::1J::",;[1J,i" il.:H?::: l;:,5*;;:'";**1; s,aciersince Russe,, and Gi,bert,s visit in F.tSure , 13. Dana glacier close up, showing its pronounced bergschrund. Photo by A.C. Lawson. 176 Cali{a,^i^ C^^,^-.. A..-..-^ rarz MountShasta The first California glaciers to be recognized as such were those at the top of Mount Shasta.The glaciers are named Hotlum, Bolam, Wintun, Kon- wakiton (McCloud), and Whitney. Although J. D. Whitney, the second California State Geologist, for whom Whitney glacier was named, led the first scientitic party to the top of Mount Shastain l862, he did not ac- tually see the glaciers. It remained for Clarence King to describe them, and to advertise to the world that there were glaciers in the United States south of Alaska. Figure 14. Map of Mount Shasta showing Hotlum,Bola;mr,,.Wintun, [on- ..... > wakiton(McCloud), and Whitney glaciers at the too. baseby U.S.Geological Survey I I \ r{-\:iratr\Ul'!Lv+ :*r\S\|!\a=ZUZ- )) e Figure 15. View of Mount Shasta taken from McCloud to the south. Portions of Konwakiton and Wintun glaciersare visible just belowand to the right of the peak. I?clcrcnccs []urnett. J. L.. 1964. Glacicr trails of King, C., I 871, Active glacierswithin the 2, Mt. Lyell and its glaciers,v. 38, no. I, Califirrnia:Mincral InforrnationService. United States:The Atlantic Monthly, v. January 4, 1879. No. 3, Glaciers and CalitbrniaDivision of Mines,v. 17, no. 27, p. 37 1-371. their work, v. 38, no. 3, January 18, 3, p. 33-34, 44-5| . King, C., l87l , On thc discovcryof actual l 879. Clyde, N., 1930, Climbing the north face gltcicrs on thc mountains of the Pacific Muir, J., l96l (1894), The mountains of of thc North Palisade:American Alpine Skrpc: Amcrican Journal of Science and California: American Museum of Journal,v. l, no. 2, p. 185-188. Arts, third series,v. l, no. 3, p. I l-167, Natural History, Doubleday Anchor Gilbcrt, G. K. 1904, Variations of Sierra (March l87l). Books, Garden City,New York,300 p. glaciers:Sierra Club Bulletin,v. 5, no. I King, C., 1923, Mountaincering in tlre Firsr published in 1894. (publication no. 30), p. 2O-32. Sicrra Ncvada:Charles Scribner'sSons, Muir, J., 1872, Living glaciersof Califor- Harrison, A. E., 1960, Exploring glaciers Ncw York, 4th edition (original nia: Overland Monthly, lst series,v.9, with a camera: Sierra Club. San Fran- publishcd in l87l), (Shasta,p. 275- p. 547-549. (December 1872). cisco,7l p. illus. 324). Russell,l. C., 1885, Existingglaciers of Hill, M. R., 1974, Glaciers-a picture Leconte, J. N., 1904, The ascent of the thc Unitcd States:U.S. Geological Sur- story: California Geology. California North Palisades:SierraClub Bulletin, v. vcy 5th Annual Rcport, 1883-84, p. Division of Mines and Geology, v. 27, 5, no. I (publication no. 30), p. l-19. 303-3 5 -5. no. 2, p. 23-32, 3744. LcContc. J. N.. 1922. Idcntificationof the Russcll, I. C., I 898, The glaciersof North Hubbard, F., 1954, Lyell glacier's grcat pcaks of the southern Sierra: Arncrica: Ceographical Journal, v. 12, mysterious"ice worms ": Natural History, SicrraClub Bullctin,v. I I , no. 3, p. 244- no. 6, p. 553-564. v. 63, no. 2,p.64-65. (February1954). a erosion:Jour- High Sierra back of Yosemite: No. l. (no Geological Society of America nal of Geology,v. 12, no. 7, p. 569-578. other title), Mining and Scientific press, Bulletin, v. 44, no. 6, p. 575-600. (June (October-November I 904). v.37, no. ll, September14, !878. No. l 933)