The Athabasca Glacier
By: Nancy Hsu (14 February, 2014)
"The view that lay before us in the evening light was one which does not often fall to the lot of modern mountaineers. A new world was spread at our feet; to the westward stretched a vast Icefield probably never seen by human eye and surrounded by entirely unknown, unnamed and unclimbed peaks". Norman Collie wrote this paragraph on August 18th, 1898.
The Athabasca is the largest icefield in the Canadian Rockies, and the most people visited glacier on the North American continent.(Parks Canada) The glacier is about 6 km long, an area of 6 km².
The Athabasca is the largest icefield in the Canadian Rockies, and the most people visited glacier on the North American continent.(Parks Canada) The glacier is about 6 km long, an area of 6 km².
One of the six main Columbia Icefield is the Athabasca Glacier, located in the Canadian Rockies, between Banff National Park and Jasper National Park. The glacier recedes 2~3 meters per year. Precipitation of snow can up to 7 meters a year, but because a warming climate, in the past 125 years it had already receded or melted more than 1.5 km.(Parks Canada) It means it lost over the half of its volume, and every day the glacier moves down from the icefield several centimeters. The shrinking glacier has left rocky moraines, how big glacier is and how big is moraine.
The short summer season can melt the snow that falls in a year. As time passes, the snow change into ice and flow outward through gaps in the mountains that surrounding the icefield, it creating the great "tongues" of ice called glaciers. The Icefield Interpretive Center stand across the glacier, it for glacier's sightseeing and ticket sales, it will close during the mid-October to mid-April.
The short summer season can melt the snow that falls in a year. As time passes, the snow change into ice and flow outward through gaps in the mountains that surrounding the icefield, it creating the great "tongues" of ice called glaciers. The Icefield Interpretive Center stand across the glacier, it for glacier's sightseeing and ticket sales, it will close during the mid-October to mid-April.
Icefield Information:
Area: 215 square kilometers
Highest Point: Mt. Columbia, 3745m
Average Elevation: 3000m
Greatest Depth: 365m
Average Snowfall: 7m per year
Drainage: Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic Oceans
Athabasca Glacier:
Type: Outlet valley glacier
Area: 6 square kilometers
Length: 6 kilometers
Depth: 90 – 300 m
Icefall: 125 m/year
Ice Explorer turn around: 25 m/year
Toe: 15 m/year
Elevations:
Icefall: 2700m
Ice Explorer turn around: 2210m
Toe: 1965m
Area: 215 square kilometers
Highest Point: Mt. Columbia, 3745m
Average Elevation: 3000m
Greatest Depth: 365m
Average Snowfall: 7m per year
Drainage: Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic Oceans
Athabasca Glacier:
Type: Outlet valley glacier
Area: 6 square kilometers
Length: 6 kilometers
Depth: 90 – 300 m
Icefall: 125 m/year
Ice Explorer turn around: 25 m/year
Toe: 15 m/year
Elevations:
Icefall: 2700m
Ice Explorer turn around: 2210m
Toe: 1965m
History
Exploring the mountains along the Great Divide in the wilds of the Canadian Rockies, Norman Collie and Hermann Woolley climbed to the summit of mountain Athabasca. Who the first recorded people to look out over the great plateau of ice now known as the Columbia Icefield. ("About the Columbia Icefield")
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WARNING- People have been killed falling into deep hidden crack, hidden cracks called crevasses in the glacier. For your safety do not cross the barriers!
Sources:
1. "About the Columbia Icefield."http://www.explorerockies.com/columbia-icefield/. Glacier Adventure. Web. 13 Feb 2014.
2.Parks Canada, . "Jasper National Park of Canada Columbia Icefield Area and the Athabasca Glacier." http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/activ/explore-interets/glacier-athabasca.aspx. Parks Canada, 19 07 2013. Web. 13 Feb 2014.
1. "About the Columbia Icefield."http://www.explorerockies.com/columbia-icefield/. Glacier Adventure. Web. 13 Feb 2014.
2.Parks Canada, . "Jasper National Park of Canada Columbia Icefield Area and the Athabasca Glacier." http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/activ/explore-interets/glacier-athabasca.aspx. Parks Canada, 19 07 2013. Web. 13 Feb 2014.