page_title: Crater Glacier
section_title: Naming
hierarchical_section_title: Crater Glacier / Naming
caption_attribution_description: East lobe of the Tulutson Glacier on Mount Saint Helens
context_page_description: The Crater Glacier is a geologically young glacier that is located on Mount St. Helens, in the U.S. state of Washington. The glacier formed after the 1980 Eruption and due to its location, the body of ice grew rapidly, unknown to the public for nearly 20 years. The glacier once contained ice caves in the smooth ice before the 2004-2008 volcanic activity. The growth of the lava dome and volcanic eruptions from 2004 to 2008 significantly altered the appearance of the glacier. In the same time period, several agencies decided to put an official name on the glacier which, at first, was Tulutson Glacier. A later decision made Crater Glacier the official glacier name. Despite the volcanic activity, the glacier continued to advance and by mid-2008, the glacier completely encircled the lava domes. In addition, new glaciers have formed around Crater Glacier as well.
context_section_description: Since the glacier was first observed to be forming and actively flowing in the late 1980s, most scientists working on the mountain have referred to it informally as the "crater glacier".  That name has been in wide use with the public (at least those who were aware of the glacier's existence) for the two decades since the glacier formed, and has appeared in several scientific publications too.  A single scientific paper, the most complete published study of the glacier to date, referred to it as the "Amphitheater glacier," but that name has not been used otherwise.
  Despite numerous observations and publications about the growing glacier in the late 1990s and early 2000s, no move was made to give the glacier a permanent and official name until late 2004, after the current eruptive cycle began and the new dome began to split the glacier.  At that time, a proponent from the Cowlitz tribe suggested the name "Tulutson Glacier," from the Cowlitz language word for ice.  In March 2005, the Washington State Board on Geographic Names chose Tulutson over three other contenders (Crater, Spirit, and Tamanawas), 
  and so Tulutson Glacier became the de facto name.
  However, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names had yet to make its decision, which would be official throughout the United States. The name Tulutson Glacier was submitted for consideration, along with Crater Glacier and Kraffts Glacier, which would have honored the volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft, killed by a pyroclastic flow in 1991. In June 2006, the U.S. BGN chose Crater Glacier because of its two-decade precedent of common use, despite objections from the state of Washington and the United States Forest Service which both preferred Tulutson. The scientists at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory strongly supported Crater Glacier, and also commented that Tulutson may not be an appropriate name since the volcano "lies inland in a region where the native language was not Cowlitz but Sahaptin."  
  After the decision, some controversy erupted following an editorial in a local newspaper protesting the decision, and the state of Washington "has indicated that the name Tulutson Glacier will continue to appear on State products, although if the feature melts soon, as is anticipated, this may not be a great concern." Despite these protests, the glacier's official name remained Crater Glacier, though  shortly after their June 2006 decision, the BGN received a follow-up proposal to name the two arms of the glacier, East Crater Glacier and West Crater Glacier. This was because, at that point in time, the dome-building eruptions had nearly split the glacier into an east and west arm. No further action has been taken on this matter and the merging of the ice streams north of the 1980s lava dome has rendered this move unnecessary.
caption: Icefall on east lobe of the Crater Glacier
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