Stream development in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, USA
Sidle RC and Milner AM. 1989. Stream development in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, USA. Arctic and Alpine Research. 21(4):350-363
The effects of hydraulics, sediment supply, channel condition, and riparian vegetation on stream development were examined in a chronosequence of five streams in Glacier Bay national Park where rapid retreat of glacial ice has exposed landscapes of different ages within a confined region. About 100 yr after deglaciation (Ice Valley stream), woody riparian vegetation begins to stabilize streambanks and becomes established on gravel bars where it provides potential sites for incipient woody debris dams. The Ice Valley channel shows only minimal degradation. The increased accumulation of woody material and the subsequent colonization of gravel bars by alder and willow have begun to increase channel and bank stability and pool formation in Berg Bay South (deglaciated around 1830). Fish habitat improves as postglacial streams develop: pools begin to form, riparian cover increases, and sediment transport decreases. [source: ASFA (Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts)]
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Sidle, Roy; Milner, Alexander
- Units
- GLBA
- Keywords
- Alaska, Alpine, Analytic, Arctic, Berg Bay, Channels, Development, Floods, Geomorphology, Glacial Features, Glacial Geology, Glacier Bay, Glacier Bay National Monument, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve AK, glaciofluvial features, GLBA, Hydrology, IAR, Lakes, Landform Evolution, Management, Meltwater, Nunatak Creek, Rivers, Sediment, Serial, Stream, successional, United States, Water Supply, waterflow, Western U.S., Wolf Point Creek