Valdez Glacier

Valdez Glacier

11/6/14, 13:35

34 degrees 4, mostly cloudy with some sun, winds up to 10 MPH

Chugach Mountains, Valdez Glacier, glacier karst, glacier lake

·         Arctic Willow (Salix arctica)

·         Devils Club (Oplopanax horridus)

·         Barclays Willow (Salix barclayi)

·         Dwarf Fireweed (Chamerion latifolium)

·         Pineapple Weed (Matricaria discoidea)

·         Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

·         White Clover (Trifolium repens)

Having been to both Valdez and Worthington Glaciers allows us to compare these ice masses and see how they impacted their surrounding environments. At Worthington Glacier we saw that it was hanging glacier that was sitting high up in between two mountainsides. Valdez differs in the fact that it is not a hanging glacier but a Valley Glacier. However, the Valdez Glacier at one point in its history was a Tidewater glacier meaning that it reached out all the way to Prince William Sound. Although these are two different types of glaciers, they both clearly showed signs of glacial karst left behind along with lakes.