page_title: Carstensz Glacier
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Carstensz Glacier / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Oblique aerial photograph looking east at the glaciers in 1972. Photograph acquired during the Carstensz Glaciers Expeditions (CGE). Left to right: Northwall Firn, Meren Glacier, and Carstensz Glacier.
context_page_description: The Carstensz Glacier is near the peak of Puncak Jaya which is a mountain in the Sudirman Range of the island of New Guinea, territorially the western central highlands of Papua province, Indonesia. The glacier is situated at an elevation of approximately 4,600 metres and is 1.5 kilometres east of the summit tower of Puncak Jaya. In 2002 the Carstensz Glacier was 1.4 kilometres in length and .60 kilometres wide.
  The glacier is named after the 17th century Dutch explorer Jan Carstenszoon, commonly known as Jan Carstensz.
context_section_description: Research presented in 2004 of IKONOS satellite imagery of the New Guinean glaciers indicated that in the two years from 2000 to 2002, the Carstensz Glacier had lost a further 6.8% of its surface area. An expedition to the remaining glaciers on Puncak Jaya in 2010 discovered that the ice on the glaciers there is about 32 metres (105 ft) thick and thinning at a rate of 7 metres (23 ft) annually. At that rate, the remaining glaciers in the immediate region near Puncak Jaya were expected to last only to the year 2015. 
  The remaining remnant glaciers on Punkak Jaya were once part of an icecap that developed approximately 5,000 years ago. At least one previous icecap also existed in the region between 15,000 and 7,000 years ago, when it also apparently melted away and disappeared.
caption: Puncak Jaya glaciers in 1972. Left to right: West Northwall Firn, East Northwall Firn, Meren Glacier (now disappeared), and Carstensz Glacier. See also animation.
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