Skip to main content
Home

Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center

Main Menu

  • EROS Home
  • Image Gallery
  • Video Library
  • Earthshots
  • Remote Sensing Classroom

Earthshots

  • Earthshots
    • Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA
      • Mélange
      • Pinning Points
  • Download Cards
  • More Information
  • Contact Information
Earthshots Logo

Mélange A Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA story

Glaciers  / 
Water
  1. Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA
  2. Mélange
Description

Landsat images show chunks of ice floating on the surface of the water as Columbia Glacier retreats. These icebergs have broken off, or calved, from the front edge of the glacier. This conglomerate of floating ice and chunks of icebergs is known as an ice mélange, which can slow the rate that glaciers slip into the sea.

The ice mélange looks less defined in the images than the glacier itself, which usually has some smooth-looking longitudinal lines. The mélange appears more mottled, and in some images there is very little of it at all (like in 2006). So don’t confuse ice mélange with the end of the glacier.

Columbia’s terminal moraine is still evident long after the end of the glacier retreated far upstream and serves as a marker for the maximum advance of the glacier. A terminal moraine is the accumulated mass of sediment, rocks, and debris that the glacier deposits at the terminus. The moraine at this historical terminus prevents the mélange from drifting beyond it.

View an animation showing more Landsat images of Columbia Glacier.

View Related Imagery & Stories

Location

Aug. 26, 1978, Landsat 3 (path/row 73/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

Aug. 26, 1978, Landsat 3 (path/row 73/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

June 26, 1986, Landsat 5 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

June 26, 1986, Landsat 5 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

June 26, 1989, Landsat 4 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

June 26, 1989, Landsat 4 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

July 27, 1994, Landsat 5 (path/row 66/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

July 27, 1994, Landsat 5 (path/row 66/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

Sept. 26, 1999, Landsat 7 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

Sept. 26, 1999, Landsat 7 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

Aug. 29, 2006, Landsat 5 (path/row 66/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

Aug. 29, 2006, Landsat 5 (path/row 66/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

July 4, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 66/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

July 4, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 66/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

July 22, 2013, Landsat 8 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

July 22, 2013, Landsat 8 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

June 15, 2017, Landsat 8 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

June 15, 2017, Landsat 8 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

June 21, 2019, Landsat 8 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

June 21, 2019, Landsat 8 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

Aug. 13, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

Aug. 13, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

Aug. 13, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

Aug. 13, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

Aug. 26, 1978, Landsat 3 (path/row 73/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA
June 26, 1986, Landsat 5 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA
June 26, 1989, Landsat 4 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA
July 27, 1994, Landsat 5 (path/row 66/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA
Sept. 26, 1999, Landsat 7 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA
Aug. 29, 2006, Landsat 5 (path/row 66/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA
July 4, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 66/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA
July 22, 2013, Landsat 8 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA
June 15, 2017, Landsat 8 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA
June 21, 2019, Landsat 8 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA
Aug. 13, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA
Aug. 13, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 67/17) — Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA

Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA Additional Imagery & Stories

Pinning Points
Pinning Points

Air temperature increases can bring about long-term loss of ice mass from a tidewater glacier. An increase of less than 2 degrees Celsius over the mea...

Read More
  • DOI Privacy Policy
  • Legal
  • Accessibility
  • Site Map
  • Contact USGS

  • U.S. Department of the Interior
  • DOI Inspector General
  • White House
  • E-gov
  • No Fear Act
  • FOIA