Taku Glacier
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| Details | Answer | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Descending from the Juneau Icefield to Taku Inlet, Alaska. |
|
| Type | Valley Glacier | |
| Area | 670 square km (261 square miles) | |
| Length | 92 km (57 miles) | |
| Terminus | Tidewater front | |
| Status | Advancing | |
Taku Glacier is a tidewater glacier located in Taku Inlet in the U.S. state of Alaska, just southeast of the city of Juneau.
The glacier was originally named Schultze Glacier in 1883 and the Foster Glacier in 1890, but Taku, the name the local Tlingit natives had for the glacier, eventually stuck. It is nestled in the Coast Mountains and originates in the Juneau Icefield. It is the largest glacier in the icefield and one of the southernmost tidewater glaciers of the northern hemisphere.
The glacier, which converges with the Taku River at Taku Inlet, has a history of advancing until it blocks the river, creating a lake, followed by a dramatic break of the ice dam. The most recent of these advances occurred in 1750. The glacier has advanced 7.5 kilometers since 1890, and is 1.5 kilometers from Taku Point. If its current rate of advance continues—it is the only advancing glacier in the Juneau Icefield—this may happen again. Since 1946, the glacier has been observed annually by the Juneau Icefield Research Program, which has documented its rate of advance since 1988 at 17 meters a year. The advance is due to a positive mass balance; that is, more snow accumulation than snow and ice melt. The glacier had a dominantly positive mass balance from 1946–1988 and a slightly negative mass balance since. Until 1948 the glacier had a calving front; since then the terminus has been grounded.
Due to the positive mass balance and the fact that it was no longer losing mass to icebergs, Taku Glacier has become insensitive to the warming that has impacted all other glaciers of the icefield. This has driven its advance. The recent negative mass balance 1989-2005 is not large enough to stop the advance yet, but is the first sign that the glacier's advance may not make it to Taku Point[1].
Taku Glacier is the namesake of the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry M/V Taku.
