LeConte Glacier

LeConte Glacier

LeConte Glacier is a 21-mile-long (34 km) and one-mile-wide (1.6 km) glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska. It flows southwest to the head of LeConte Bay. It was named in 1887 by U.S. Navy Lieutenant-Commander Charles M. Thomas in honor of a California biologist Joseph LeConte. According to John Muir indigenous peoples of the area, Tlingit's, called it “Huti [sic] ” which he claimed derived from a mythical bird that produced sounds of thunder when it flapped its wings. [Muir, John."The Cruise of the Corwin. 1917. pg. 238" ]

Since its discovery, the glacier has retreated nearly 2.5 miles (4 km), although it is considered to be in a stable position today [http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/forest_facts/resources/geology/stikineicefields.htm] . The glacier is known for its "shooter" icebergs which calve off underneath the water (LeConte Bay is 810 feet [247 m] deep) and shoot out of the water due to their buoyancy [http://www.alaskaupclose.com/leconte.html] .

LeConte Glacier is the southernmost tidewater glacier on the Pacific Coast.

The glacier is a popular tourist destination, with operators from nearby Petersburg and Wrangell running excursions to its calving face. Students from Petersburg High School visiting also regularly to monitor its historical retreat.

Also of the same namesake and part of the Alaska Marine Highway is the ferry M/V "LeConte".

ee also

* List of glaciers


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