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    • Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA
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Glacial Retreat A Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA story

Glaciers  / 
Water
  1. Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA
  2. Glacial Retreat
Description

A stable glacier advances a little in the winter and retreats the same amount in the summer. Bear Glacier likely did this and gradually built up a terminal moraine. (A moraine is a buildup of glacial material, and a terminal moraine is one that is built up at the end of the glacier.)

During the last 100 years in Alaska, the annual average temperature has increased by about twice the global annual average temperature change. A temperature increase like this can change the regular pattern of glacial advance and retreat.

Between 1950 and the 1990s, Bear Glacier retreated 1.55 kilometers (1 mile). Small icebergs were calving into a lagoon that had developed. By 2004, the glacier’s floating terminus calved, causing an additional 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) of retreat. Between 2000 and 2007, the terminus retreated another 3.5 kilometers (2 miles). Large icebergs now float in the lagoon, visible in the Landsat images as light blue spots in the water.

View Related Imagery & Stories

Location

Aug. 10, 1976, Landsat 2 (path/row 74/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Aug. 10, 1976, Landsat 2 (path/row 74/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

June 18, 1984, Landsat 5 (path/row 69/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

June 18, 1984, Landsat 5 (path/row 69/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Sep. 27, 1994, Landsat 5 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Sep. 27, 1994, Landsat 5 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

July 1, 2000, Landsat 7 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

July 1, 2000, Landsat 7 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Aug. 5, 2001, Landsat 7 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Aug. 5, 2001, Landsat 7 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

June 21, 2005, Landsat 5 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

June 21, 2005, Landsat 5 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

July 21, 2007, Landsat 7 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

July 21, 2007, Landsat 7 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Sep. 15, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Sep. 15, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Sep. 2, 2014, Landsat 8 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Sep. 2, 2014, Landsat 8 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Sep. 4, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 69/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Sep. 4, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 69/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Sept. 9, 2020, Landsat 8 (path/row 69/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Sept. 9, 2020, Landsat 8 (path/row 69/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Sept. 9, 2020, Landsat 8 (path/row 69/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Sept. 9, 2020, Landsat 8 (path/row 69/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Aug. 10, 1976, Landsat 2 (path/row 74/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA
June 18, 1984, Landsat 5 (path/row 69/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA
Sep. 27, 1994, Landsat 5 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA
July 1, 2000, Landsat 7 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA
Aug. 5, 2001, Landsat 7 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA
June 21, 2005, Landsat 5 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA
July 21, 2007, Landsat 7 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA
Sep. 15, 2010, Landsat 7 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA
Sep. 2, 2014, Landsat 8 (path/row 68/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA
Sep. 4, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 69/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA
Sept. 9, 2020, Landsat 8 (path/row 69/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA
Sept. 9, 2020, Landsat 8 (path/row 69/18) — Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA

Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA Additional Imagery & Stories

Bear Glacier Lagoon
Bear Glacier Lagoon

Before 1950, the entire basin was covered by Bear Glacier and ended at a terminal moraine. By 1961, a small lake had formed, referred to as Bear Glaci...

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Glacier Repeat Photography
Glacier Repeat Photography

USGS uses repeat photography of glaciers to quantify changes in glaciers over time. Repeat photography is a technique in which a historical photograph...

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Racing Stripes
Racing Stripes

Glaciers move slowly, but Bear Glacier seems to have racing stripes. Glaciers pick up dirt and debris from the rocks they pass. They deposit that mate...

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