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 Exposed bedrock foretells a calving glacier's end |
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Bedrock exposed on Portage Glacier's face in 1995 signaled a new stage in the glacier's accelerating retreat. Tidewater glaciers terminate in salt water, but Portage Lake, up to 800 feet deep in places, is fresh. Floating icebergs show but a tenth of their bulk above its milky surface. |
  A river of ice advances, even as it retreats |
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With a loud crack, an icy pinnacle breaks away and falls into the lake, sending up a giant splash and a boat rocking wave. Icebergs, "brash ice" and "bergy bits" shoot to the surface. The glacier face moves forward, pushed by the weight of accumulated ice and snow behind it, but melting shrinks it even faster. The river of ice becomes shorter every year. |
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