Glacier, Historian of the Weather

Abstract

The southern coast of Alaska is one of the world's most accessible areas of large glaciers. As a result, the lower parts of Alaskan coastal glaciers have been extensively observed and studied since they first became known to the modern world through the exploratory voyages of Cook, Vancouver, La Perouse, and others in the late eighteenth century. However, the high, rugged, snow- and ice-bound mountains from which these ice streams flow are difficult of access, and information on the gathering grounds of these glaciers is correspondingly scantv.