Palisade Glaciers
Encyclopedia
The Palisade Glacier is a glacier
located on the northeast side of the Palisades
within the John Muir Wilderness
in the central Sierra Nevada of California. The Palisade Glacier is the largest glacier in North America.
The Palisade Glacier was created 200 years ago during the Little Ice Age
. It has an area of 0.8 km² (0.308881726874028 sq mi) and the glacier is 1.3 km (0.807784557644749 mi) long and 0.8 km (0.497098189319845 mi) wide. It is located between 12,000 and 13,400 feet (3,658 - 4,084 meters). It moves at a rate of 20 feet (seven meters) a year, although it is also retreating. Also, the Palisade Glacier is one of the few glaciers in California that terminates in a lake dammed by its former moraine
. The palisade glacier formed from water and frozen ice that freezed over 100 years ago. 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. Another feature of the glacier is a moulin
, which was formed in a drought during 1977, and a bergschrund
.
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Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
located on the northeast side of the Palisades
Palisades (California Sierra)
The Palisades are a group of peaks in the central part of the Sierra Nevada in the US state of California. They are located about southwest of the town of Big Pine, California...
within the John Muir Wilderness
John Muir Wilderness
The John Muir Wilderness is a wilderness area that extends along the crest of the Sierra Nevada of California, USA for , in the Inyo and Sierra National Forests. Established in 1964 by the Wilderness Act and named for naturalist John Muir, it contains...
in the central Sierra Nevada of California. The Palisade Glacier is the largest glacier in North America.
The Palisade Glacier was created 200 years ago during the Little Ice Age
Little Ice Age
The Little Ice Age was a period of cooling that occurred after the Medieval Warm Period . While not a true ice age, the term was introduced into the scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939...
. It has an area of 0.8 km² (0.308881726874028 sq mi) and the glacier is 1.3 km (0.807784557644749 mi) long and 0.8 km (0.497098189319845 mi) wide. It is located between 12,000 and 13,400 feet (3,658 - 4,084 meters). It moves at a rate of 20 feet (seven meters) a year, although it is also retreating. Also, the Palisade Glacier is one of the few glaciers in California that terminates in a lake dammed by its former moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
. The palisade glacier formed from water and frozen ice that freezed over 100 years ago. 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. Another feature of the glacier is a moulin
Moulin (geology)
A moulin or glacier mill is a roughly circular, vertical to nearly vertical well-like shaft within the a glacier through which water enters it from the surface. The term is derived from the French word for mill....
, which was formed in a drought during 1977, and a bergschrund
Bergschrund
A bergschrund is a crevasse that forms where the moving glacier ice separates from the stagnant ice above. It is often a serious obstacle for mountaineers, who sometimes abbreviate "bergschrund" to "schrund"....
.