Glacier monitoring in Glacier National Park
Fagre D and Key C. 2003. Glacier monitoring in Glacier National Park. United States Geological Survey. West Glacier, MT
Glacier National Park has approximately 50 small glaciers. Some of these glaciers are relatively well known, having attracted the scientific attention of the first park advocates in 1887. Only 37 named glaciers existed in 1968 which met USGS criteria as perennial snow-ice masses larger than 0.1 km2. Ground measurements of glacier margins and termini were made sporadically on several glaciers by the National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and several universities but ended by 1979. No comprehensive park-wide glacier monitoring program was ever established but excellent summaries by Johnson (1980) and Carrara (1989) focused on available data for the most-studied glaciers. The glaciers have receded since they were first described in 1901, and tree-ring studies indicate that glacial retreat began about 1850. At that time there were more than 150 glaciers within Glacier National Park.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Fagre, Daniel; Key, Carl
- Date of Issue
- 2003
- Publisher
- United States Geological Survey
- Units
- GLAC
- Keywords
- Climate, Geographic Information Systems, Glacier, Global Change