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Hubbard Glacier

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: General Geography; North
American Geography

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   Map of Hubbard Glacier
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   Map of Hubbard Glacier

   Hubbard Glacier is a tidewater glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska and
   the Yukon Territory of Canada. From its source in the Yukon, the
   glacier stretches 122 km (76 mi) to the sea at Yakutat Bay and
   Disenchantment Bay. It is the longest tidewater glacier in Alaska, with
   an open calving face over ten kilometres (6 mi) wide. Before it reaches
   the sea, Hubbard is joined by the Valerie Glacier to the west, which,
   through forward surges of its own ice, has contributed to the advance
   of the ice flow that experts believe will eventually dam the Russell
   Fiord from Disenchantment Bay waters.

   The Hubbard Glacier ice margin has continued to advance for about a
   century. In May 1986, the Hubbard Glacier surged forward, blocking the
   outlet of Russell Fiord and creating "Russell Lake." All that summer
   the new lake filled with runoff; its water level rose 25 metres, and
   the decrease in salinity threatened its sea life.

   Around midnight on October 8th the dam began to give way. In the next
   24 hours an estimated 5.3 km³ of water gushed through the gap, and the
   fiord was reconnected to the ocean at its previous level.

   In spring 2002, the glacier again approached Gilbert Point. It pushed a
   terminal moraine ahead of its face and closed the opening again in
   July. On August 14, the terminal moraine was washed away after rains
   had raised the water level behind the dam it formed to 18 m (61 ft)
   above sea level. The fiord could become dammed again, and perhaps
   permanently. If this happens, the fiord could overflow its southern
   banks and drain through the Situk River instead, threatening trout
   habitat and a local airport.

   The ice at the foot of Hubbard Glacier is about 400 years old: it takes
   that long for ice to traverse the length of the glacier. The glacier
   routinely calves off icebergs the size of a ten-story building. Where
   the glacier meets the shore, most of the ice is below the waterline,
   and newly calved icebergs can shoot up quite dramatically, so that
   ships must keep their distance from it as they ply their way up and
   down the coast.

Image gallery

   The glacier from a distance

   Holland America Line's Oosterdam passing Turner Glacier while leaving
   Disenchantment Bay

   Hubbard Glacier and icebergs formed by calving

   Closeup of Hubbard Glacier

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