Grasshopper Glacier (Montana)
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| Grasshopper Glacier (Montana) | |
|---|---|
| Type | Mountain glacier |
| Location | Montana, U.S. |
| Coordinates | |
| Area | 320 acres (129 ha) |
| Length | 1 mile (1.6 km) |
| Terminus | Talus/proglacial lake |
| Status | Retreating |
Grasshopper Glacier (Montana) is located in the Beartooth Mountains, Custer National Forest, Montana, U.S.. The glacier is within the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, a part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The glacier is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) long and a half mile (800 m) wide. Starting at a point more than 11,300 feet (3,440 m) above sea level, the glacier originally was more than 5 miles (8 km) long but has receded significantly since first researched in the early 20th Century. The glacier was named due to the tens of millions of grasshoppers (locusts) that have been found emtombed for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years within the ice. Many of the grasshoppers are now extinct and their high level of preservation allowed early researchers to send some specimens to entomologists for indentification. It was during this research that it was discovered that some of the grasshoppers were from the now extinct species Melanoplus spretus, not known to have existed for at least 100 years.
Known to travel in swarms numbering in the billions in some years, it is believed that the grasshoppers found in the glacier may have been caught in a severe storm and perished. Until late 20th century, the grasshopper remains were quite common; however lower snowfall rates since the late 1980's and higher temperatures have contributed to a higher melting rate of the glacier and many specimens decompose before they can be retrieved.
The glacier is very small and some consider it to be more of a snowfield than an actual glacier, though at one time the glacier may have been over 4 miles (6.4 km) long.
Access to the glacier is difficult due to poor weather conditions and the requirement to travel via off road vehicle and then hike on foot several miles to the base of the glacier. The road is impassable for up to 10 months of the year. The Beartooth Highway (U.S. 212) is one of the closest access roads. Two smaller glaciers in the immediate region also have the same species of grasshoppers entombed in their ice, one is also named Grasshopper Glacier and the other simply Hopper Glacier.
[edit] External links
- U.S. Forest Service, Rod. A natural wonder. Custer National Forest. Retrieved on 2006-07-11.
- Benson. Grasshopper Glacier North of Yellowstone Park. Montana Earth Science Picture of the Week. Retrieved on 2006-08-11.
- Lockwood, Jeffrey. "The death of the Super Hopper", High Country News.org, February 3, 2003. Retrieved on 2006-08-11.
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