The USGS Water Science School
Bering Glacier currently terminates in Vitus Lake south of Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, about 10 kilometers (km) from the Gulf of Alaska. Combined with the Bagley Icefield, where the snow that feeds the glacier accumulates, the Bering is the largest glacier in North America. Warmer temperatures and changes in precipitation over the past century have thinned the Bering Glacier by several hundred meters. Since 1900 the terminus has retreated as much as 12 km. Most of the glaciers along the Alaskan coast are retreating along with the Bering Glacier.
This satellite image shows how a glacier is really like a river running in slow motion.
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Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/2010/gallery/glacier-satellite.html
Page Contact Information: Howard Perlman
Page Last Modified: Thursday, 13-Dec-2012 11:43:09 EST
