Documenting More than a Century of Glacier Bay Landscape Evolution with Historical Photography
Molnia BF, Karpilo RD, Pranger HS. 2007. Documenting More than a Century of Glacier Bay Landscape Evolution with Historical Photography. In Proceedings of the Fourth Glacier Bay Science Symposium. Juneau, AK. October 2004. Reston, VA. Proceedings of the Fourth Glacier Bay Science Symposium. U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007–5047
Historical photographs, some made as early as the mid-l880s, are being used as a primary component of an integrated effort to characterize the rapid landscape evolution of the Glacier Bay area. Selected historical photographs are analyzed to document former landscape parameters including: glacier extent, thickness, and terminus position; distribution and type of vegetation; wetland location and extent; shoreline characteristics; and sediment characteristics and distribution. In the field, new ‘repeat’ photographs are made at each historical photograph location. The new photographs are analyzed for the same parameters as the originals and the results compared. In addition to the extracted information, the resulting pairs of photograph provide striking visual documentation of the dynamic landscape evolution occurring in the Glacier Bay area.
- Type
- Conference Proceeding Paper
- Authors
- Molnia, Bruce; Karpilo, Ronald; Pranger, Harold
- Units
- GLBA
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Glacial Features and Processes