Palisade Glaciers
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The Palisade Glacier and the Middle Palisade Glacier are two glaciers on the northeast side of the Palisades in the central Sierra Nevada of California. They are the largest glaciers in the Sierra Nevada. The Palisade Glacier is larger and it is also the southernmost glacier in the United States.[1]
The Palisade Glacier was created 700 years ago during the Little Ice Age.[2] It has an area of 0.8 km² and the glacier is 1.3 km long and 0.8 km wide.[3] It is located between 12,000 and 13,400 feet (3,658 - 4,084 meters). It moves at a rate of 23 feet (seven meters) a year, although it is also retreating.[4] Also, the Palisade Glacier is one of the few glaciers in California that terminates in a lake dammed by its former moraine.[5] The lake is a turquoise colour formed by the glacial powder suspended in the water. The Big Pine Lakes below the glacier are also the same colour.[6] Another feature of the glacier is a moulin[4], which was formed in a drought during 1977[7], and a bergschrund.[2]
The Middle Palisade Glacier is separated from the nearby Norman Clyde Glacier by a ridge.[8] Even though these are the largest glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, they present climbers with few of the difficulties commonly associated with glacier travel.[9]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ J. D. Dickey (2003). California. Rough Guides. ISBN 184353049X.
- ^ a b Mary Hill (2006). Geology of the Sierra Nevada. University of California Press. ISBN 0520236955.
- ^ James Gregory Moore (2000). Exploring the Highest Sierra. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804737037.
- ^ a b Isaac Nadeau (2006). Glaciers. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 1404231242.
- ^ http://glaciers.research.pdx.edu/california.php Glaciers Online
- ^ Allan A. Schoenherr (1995). A Natural History of California. University of California Press. ISBN 0520069226.
- ^ Bill Guyton (2001). Glaciers of California: Modern Glaciers, Ice Age Glaciers, the Origin of the Yosemite Valley, and a Glacier Tour in the Sierra Nevada. University of California Press. ISBN 0520226836.
- ^ http://www.climber.org/TripReports/1999/491.html Climber.org - Trip Reports
- ^ Steve Roper, The Climber's Guide to the High Sierra, Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, 1976, ISBN 0-87156-147-6
[edit] External links
- Palisade Glaciers is at coordinates Coordinates:
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