1. Earthshots
  2. Bear Glacier, Alaska, USA
  3. Racing Stripes
Description

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 material in accumulations called moraines. A lateral moraine is the material on the sides of a glacier.

Two glaciers flowing together form a medial moraine in the middle where they join and show up as those dark stripes. When a glacier has a medial moraine, it’s made up of more than one ice flow.

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

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

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...

Glacial Retreat
Glacial Retreat

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 ter...

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...