My Planet Experience
Columbia Glacier, Alaska
Columbia Glacier, Prince William Sound, Alaska
Columbia Glacier is the largest tidewater glacier from Alaska at 435 square miles, multi-branched calving glacier that flows mostly south out of the Chugach Mountains to its tidewater termination in Prince William Sound, just 30 miles from Valdez, about an hour by boat.
Columbia Glacier is receding, leaving huge blocks of ice and an impassible moraine. It is always changing and each day the bay is filled with floating ice. Some of this ice floats all the way out to the Gulf of Alaska, where it becomes a hazard to shipping.
Captain Cook named the Columbia Glacier as he explored Prince William Sound in 1890. At that time the glacier was advancing and an impressive wall of ice greeted the Captain. This remained unchanged until about 1990 when the Glacier suddenly halted and started its retreat. It has since retreated over 6 miles.
Columbia Glacier, Alaska
Columbia Glacier, Prince William Sound, Alaska
Columbia Glacier is the largest tidewater glacier from Alaska at 435 square miles, multi-branched calving glacier that flows mostly south out of the Chugach Mountains to its tidewater termination in Prince William Sound, just 30 miles from Valdez, about an hour by boat.
Columbia Glacier is receding, leaving huge blocks of ice and an impassible moraine. It is always changing and each day the bay is filled with floating ice. Some of this ice floats all the way out to the Gulf of Alaska, where it becomes a hazard to shipping.
Captain Cook named the Columbia Glacier as he explored Prince William Sound in 1890. At that time the glacier was advancing and an impressive wall of ice greeted the Captain. This remained unchanged until about 1990 when the Glacier suddenly halted and started its retreat. It has since retreated over 6 miles.