The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-06-05
THE GLACIERS OF ALASKA
Many of Great Size Farfow the
Long Coast Line.
They Extend From Dixon Entrance
to the AIeutian Islands, and n Few,
Rise Abruptly From the Sea to
Height of Thousands of Feet.

Henry Gannett, one of the most thorough
Of Alaskan explorers. in a paper presented
before the American Geographical Society,
gives description of the far northern ter
ritory that will be found OF particular in
terest just now, when so many Americans
are rushing to Cape Nome and the Klon-
dixie in the hope OF digging fortune In
nuggets from the frozen sands. Mr.. Gan
nett says;
THE entire coast of Alaska and its ISL
ands from Dixon Entrance tc the Aleutian
Islands. is mountainous. The land every
where rises abruptly from the sea 10 sum-
mits ranging from 5000 10 $4,000 feet high
The mountain slopes are very steep, the
higher SUBMITS are extremely rugged, and
thousands of them gre totally inaccessible
Level land near tie coast is almost I'M
known, except at the heads Of the lords.
which continue inland as valleys or canyons
with PERCEPTIONS walls
The most prominent fact connected with
the coast region Of southern Alaska, in
deed of the northwest coast of forth
America. from Puget Sound TO the end OF
the Alaskan peninsula, is that its features
are almost wholly the product Of glaHil
action. Not only are its fiords the aban-
doned channels of glaciers. but its hills
and mountains were shaped by them, and
so recent is the retreat Of the glaciers That
but little. II any OF the work OF the at
mosphere and Of streams is thus far TO De
seen superimposed upon the glacial work
There is probably nowhere on earth en-
equal area in which the relief features are
so purely the product of glacial erosion
and in which aqueous erosion mas TO-
so little. The remains OF the enormous
glacial system which at one time covered
practically this whole area are now ex-
isteut in the form OF hundreds OF glaciers.
While these are pygIniss in comparison
with their progenitors, scores OF them eA-
esed in magnitude the celebrated ones OF
Switzerland. Taken as a whole, the region
IS one aTording unequaled facilities ior
studying the work Of glaciers. both IN &C
ton and by their accomplished results
The fiords present everywhere the char
acteristIe cross section Of giaeier-cut
gorge. With steep, almost prec:Jitous walls.
becoming gradually less steep toward the
bottom which is nearly level, giving the
common U-shaped section The noors OF
the gorges of branches are commonly al
higher level than the main hord, so that
they open upon il at attitudes Of hundreds
or even thousands Of feet above II. This
striking has only been recently noted
AT the time these branch gOTge5 wee
! formed the surface Of the ice in Them and
! in the main gorge WIS necessarily at t1e
same level and the difference in eieva-
I ton. Of the floors OF the gOrges measured
! the difference in the thickness OF the ice
! of the main and branch gorges- For II
/ the surface Of the ice in the branch were
/ Tor any considerable time at higher level
/ than that of the main gorge the fos mer
/ would cut its gorge down, so as 10 brlrg
] the surfaces on a level. Ii is furthermore
manifest that the surface OF the lie In
/ the side gorge could not exist at lower
/ level than that Of the main gorge, as Ia
/ that case the latter would overflow i1to
! il. Hence the gorges OF the main SnI
/ branch glaciers represent status WHICH
persisted for a long time, and the recess
! sion Of the glacier must have been accom-
| plished rather rapidly, as Ctnerwisa the
/ branch would have had time to cut deep
/ " into the wall Of the main gorge
"Ou the Alaska coast are seen fine exam
pies Of these gOrges in all stag S, from
those wherein the main and tributary
| eorges are both filled with moving ice,
/ ana the eorges are IN process Of form atiOT,
10 those in which all the go g5s. main ard
! branch. have been abandoned by tce-an
| of these perhaps the most striking are
| those where the ice in the main 60 e
has retreated beyond the mouth Of the trib
utary, which now descend5 in cascades of
| ice over the lip of the main gorge. Fl e
| EXAMPLES of this were seen IN Russo /
! Ford and in Port Wells. Primes Wi liam
\ Sound are several small gracieTs foTmsrly
! tributary to that IN the head OF the inlet,
! which are now cascading down the Wa Is
| of the ford into the water, from VII CT
| the main glacier has refreshed p fne
| straightness of the hoTds, theA defieed5ns
in their courses produced by the junction
| with large branches, also stamp them I'M
| mistakably as glacier cut.
Glaciers exist in the mountains border
ing the coast from Dixon Entrance we t
| ward nearly to the END OF the Alas ka p
! ninsula. but east Of Glacier Bay none OF
| them descend to the sea, although mauy
are of great magnitude. amCng them the
Patterson on Frederick Sound and tee Da-
! wilson in Lynn Canal, both OF which near
BY reach the sea and doubtless not long
| ago were discharging icebergs into il The
existing glaciers OF the Alaskan coast may
be grouped in two classes, those whcse
fronts reach the sea and discharge ieeSergs,
| and those which do not. The first may be
called living, the latter dead. OF tho form
| er our expedition saw ard examined nc
| fewer than twenty-five, including six n
| Glacier Bay, the Muir, Grand Pacific
! Johns Hopkins, Reid, Charpen.ier AID
weather range; three in Yakutat Bay AID
| Russell Fiord. the Hubbard, Dalton an6
Nunatak; and twelve in Prince William
Sound, including the Columbia, in Colum-
bia Bay, the Harvard, Yale, Smith. Bryr
Mawr, Vassar and Wellesley in Port
Wells. and the Hartman, Surprise. Ser
pentine, Cataract and Washington in Har-
rinsn FioTd.
OF the latter class, there are many hun
dreds. ranging in size from the Or, al
MaIasp.na a lake Of ice sixty miles bJ
thirty, and fed by scores of ice streams
from the St. Elias Alps, down to little
streams flowing down the mountain gorgei
two or three miles only in length.
The glaciers of Alaska take various
forms The simple form of a stream OF
ice flowing down a mountain gorge with
tributaries from neighboring gorgeS is
common. But the greater glaciers usually
take the form of lake of ice occupying Z
broad valley or a plateau, fed by streams
of ice from the surrounding mountains, and
drained by outlets in one two, OF more d.
REGIONS. OF this type, the Muir is a fnt
example. II occupies a broad valley hav-
ing a gentle slope TO the south, east and
west: is fei by streams from the mountains
| on the north, east and west and has thres
outlets, by the Davidson Glacier to Lynn
Canal, by a glacier 20 the west arm Of
Glacier Bay, while its largest outlet is by
what is popularity known as Muir Glacier
southwark to Muir Inlet, a branch of Ola
cler Bay.
OF this type, too. are the great ice field.
on either side of the Fairweather range
that on the northeast being drained sltc
Glacier Bay by several outlets, and thos,