Cloud Peak Glacier
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| Cloud Peak Glacier | |
|---|---|
| Type | Mountain glacier |
| Location | Wyoming, U.S. (Bighorn Mountains) |
| Coordinates | |
| Terminus | Scree, Proglacial lake |
| Status | Retreating |
Cloud Peak Glacier is located in the Bighorn Mountains in the northcentral section of the U.S. state of Wyoming. Centered within the Cloud Peak Wilderness of Bighorn National Forest, Cloud Peak Glacier is the only active glacier in the Bighorn Mountains. The glacier is in a deep cirque immediately northeast of Cloud Peak, the highest peak in the Bighorn Mountains.
Cloud Peak Glacier is retreating rapidly and is expected to disappear entirely sometime between the years 2020 and 2034. Photographs taken in 1905 and again in 2005 demonstrated an obvious reduction in the area the glacier, and more ominously, a huge loss of thickness. Between 1905 and 2005, the glacier has been reduced in size from an estimated 506 million cubic feet to 78 million cubic feet, though ice cores and depth measurements were not used to determine the amount of change.
[edit] References cited
- Rahn, Perry H., Charles Michael Ray, Michael W. Rahn (March/April 2006). "The Last Glacier in the Bighorns". The Professional Geologist 43 (2): 43-46. Retrieved on 2006-08-18.
- Cloud Peak Wilderness. Wilderness.net. Retrieved on 2006-08-18.
- USGS Cloud Peak (WY) Topo Map Quad. Topozone. Retrieved on 2006-08-18.
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