RETREAT OF BARRY GLACIER, PORT WELiS, PRINCE WILLIAM 

SOUND, ALASKA, BETWEEN 1910 AND 1914. 

By BERTRAND L. JoHNSON. 

The Barry Glacier, in the northwest corner j National Geographic Society's expedition under 

of Prince William Sound (fig. 6), was first de- Lawrence Martin mapped and studied the front 

40' 20' 

MtMuir 

scribed by Glenn, 1 Castner, 2 and Mendenhall. 3 

It was more extensively 

studied by the Harriman 

Alaska expedition ·t in 

1899; by Grant 5 in 1905; 

by Grant and Higgins 5 

in 1908 and 1909; and 

by Martin 6 in 1910. In 

1899 Gannett made the 

first map which accurately delineated the 

front of the Barry Glaci~ T~~~WM~ ~~---~---~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

mapped by Grant in 1905, 

by Grant and Higgins in 

1908 and 1909, and by 

Martin in 1910. Numerous photographs were 

taken in these years, and 

several of them were reproduced in the reports 

cited. Tarr and Martin 7 

sumrnarized the results of 

th~ earlier expeditions 

and gave an exhaustive 23r--~~~~~~~~-A~~~_L~~~~~~--H-~------~ 

treatment of the known 

life history of the Barry 

Glacier up to and including 1910. In 1899 the 

Barry Glacier nearly 

40' 

0 5 

147~0' 

10 15 

closed Doran Strait. (See FIGURE 6.-Map of the Port Wells district, Prince William Sound, A Iaska, showing location of Barry 

fig. 7.) In 1910, when the Glacier. 

1 Glenn, E. F., Report on exploration in Alaska: U. S. War Dept., 

Adj. Gen. Office, No. 25, pp. 19, 21, 1899. 

2Castner, J. C., idem, pp. 189, 191. 

s Mendenhall, W. C., A reconnaissance from Resurrection Bay to the 

Tanana River, Alaska, in 1898: U. S. Geol. Survey Twentieth Ann. 

Rept., pt. 7, p. 325, 1900. 

• Gannett, Henry, The Harriman Alaska Expedition: Nat. Geog. Mag., 

..-ol.lO,pp. 510,511, 1899; Am. Geog. Soc. Jour., vol.31, pp.355-356, 1899, 

Burroughs, John, Narrative of the expedition: Alaska, vol. 1, pp. 71-74. 

ffarriman Alaska Expedition, 1902. Gannett, Henry, General geogro.phy: Idem, vol. 2, p. 263, 1902. Gilbert, G. K., Glaciers and glaciation: 

(dem, vol.3, pp. 90-93, 176, 1904. 

5 Grant, U.S., and Higgins, D. F., Glaciers of Prince William Sound 

~nd the southern part of the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska; II, Glaciers of 

Port Wells, Prince William Sound: Am. Geog. Soc. Bull., vol. 43, pp. 

327-331, 334, 1911; Coastal glaciers of Prince William Sound and Kenai 

Peninsula, Alaska: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 526, pp. 33-35, 1913. Reid, 

H. F., The variations of glaciers: Jour. Geology, vol. 14, pp. 40&-407, 

1906; vol.17, p. 671, 1909. 

6 Martin, Lawrence, Crossing the Alaskan glaciers: Collier's, vol. 47, 

No.17, p. 20, July 15, 1911; The National Geographic Society's researches 

in Alaska: Nat. Geog. Mag., vol. 22, pp. 550-551, 555, 556, 557, 559, 560, 

1911; Gletscheruntersuchungenlangs der Kiiste von Alaska: Petermanns 

Mitt., Jahrg. 58, pp. 82, 148-149, 1912. Reid, H. F., Les variations periodiques des glaciers, XVI me rapport, 1910--Amerique duN ord: Zeitschr. 

Gletscberkunde, Bd. 6, Heft 2, pp. 101-102, 1911; The variations of 

glaciers: Jour. Geology) vol. 19, p. 458, 1911. Tarr, R. S., and Martin, 

Lawrence, Alaskan glacier studies, pp. 14, 317, 319-327, 348-349, 350, 

Nat. Geog. Soc., 1914. 

1 Tarr, R. S., and Martin, Lawrence, op. cit., pp. 318-327. 

35 
36 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1916. 

of the glacier, it had retreated approximately 

3 miles from the position occupied in 1899. 

The Barry Glacier was visited by the writer 

in 1913 and again late in the fall of 1914. 

Photographs were taken in both years, and 

four of these photographs are reproduced here 

(Pis. V and VI) for comparison with two photographs (Pl. IV) by Lawrence :Martin, showing 

the position of the ice front in 1910. The positions of the glacier front in 1899, 1905, 1908, 

1909, 1910, 1913, and 1914 are shown in the 

accompanying sketch map (fig. 7). 

The glacier front in 1910 stretched in a 

nearly straight line across Barry Arm (fig. 7 

c::E3:::=c::i:::o ===:::E;;;;;;=====·;;;iii:z==:::l3 Miles 

FIGURE 7.-Sketch map of Barry, Coxe, and Cascade glaciers, Prince 

William Sound, Alaska, showing position of glacier fronts in 1899, 

1905, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1913, and 1914. 

and Pl. IV). Between 1910 and 1913 the retreat of the glacier uncovered bedrock in the 

western part of the glacier front, near the left 

center of the view shown in Plate V, A. No 

rock outcrops are visible in the photographs 

made in 1910 (Pl. IV), nor does Martin mention 

any exposed bedrock in the glacier front. As 

an· apparent result of this uncovering of the 

bedrock surface the western part of the glacier 

front retreated less rapidly than the eastern 

part, and in 1913 a marked reentrant was 

notice~ble along the east side of the glacier. 

On this side the Barry Glacier had also retreated beyond the Coxe Glacier and was completely separated from it (Pis. V, A, and VI, A). 

The Barry and Cascade glaciers had partly 

separated (Pl. VI, A). The surface of the 

Barry Glaoier at its outer end had also lowered, increasing the ~dth of the bare zones 

at the sides of the gl cier by an appreciable 

amount. The linear etreat along the east 

side of the glacier betreen 1910 and 1913 is 

estimated as about 6,51

oo feet; that along the 

west side as about 2,f00 feet. . The average 

annual retreat betweT 1910 and 1913 was 

thus slightly over 2,1op feet on the east side 

but only a little over 8~0 feet on the west side. 

The rate of retreat on he west side, however, 

was probably much greater prior to the exposure of bedrock in ~e glacier front, as between 1905 and 191 the receding glacier 

preserved a nearly str · ght front across Barry 

Arn1. The inference t at the rate of retreat 

on the west side rapidl lessened after the uncovering of bedrock i:p. that portion of the 

glacier front is borne out by the slight retreat 

at this point between 1913 and 1914. 

The photographs taken in the fall of 1914 

show a continued withdrawal of the glacier, 

most rapidly along its east side, where the 

dista.nce between the Barry and Coxe glaciers 

had increased conspicuously (Pl. V, B). The 

retreat here between the dates in 1913 and 1914 

on which the photographs were taken appeared 

to be about 1,700 feet. The bedrock in the 

western part of the Barry Glacier front was 

still visible, and appeared to be of about the 

same height as in 1913 but to have a slightly 

greater length along the glacier front. The ice 

at this point had apparently retreated but 

slightly since 1913. The separation of the 

Cascade and Barry glaciers was more nearly 

complete, and that part of the Cascade Glacier 

already separated from the Barry Glacier had 

retreated a short distance up the fiord wall 

(Pl. VI, B). The surfaoe of the Barry Glacier 

was considerably lower, and that of the Coxe 

Glacier had lowered slightly. The total retreat 

of the Barry Glacier between 1910 and 1914 

appeared to be about 8,200 feet along its 

eastern edge and a little more than 2,500 feet 

along its western edge. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 98 PLATE IV 

A. BARRY AND COXE GLACIERS, JULY 26, 1910. 

Photograph by Lawrence Martin. Originally reproduced in Tarr and Martin's "Alaskan glacier studies." 

Used by courtesy of the National Geographic Society. 

B. CASCADE GLACIER AT ITS JUNCTION WITH BARRY GLACIER, JULY 25, 1910. 

Photograph by Lawrence Martin. Originally reproduced in Coll ier's, vol. 47, No. 17, Jul y 15, 1911. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 98 PLATE V 

.A. BARRY AND COXE GLACIERS, AUGUST 18, 1913. 

From outwash plain formed by Barry Glacier in 1899. (See fig. 7.) Note outcrop of rock 

in front of Barry Glacier and separation of Barry and Coxe glaciers. Photograph by 

B. L. Johnson. 

B. BARRY AND COXE GLACIERS, OCTOBER 5, 1914. 

Glaciers are much more widely separated than in previous years. Photograph by B. L. Johnson, 

from deck of a launch. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 98 PLATE VI 

.A. BARRY, COXE, AND CASCADE GLACIERS, AUGUST 15, 1913. 

Photograph by B. L. Johnson, from deck of a I au nch. 

B. CASCADE GLACIER AT ITS JUNCTION WITH BARRY GLACIER, OCTOBER 5, 1914. 

Glaciers are almost separated, and Cascade Glacier has begun to retreat up the fiord wall. 

Photograph by B. L. Johnson, from deck of a launch.