GLACIERS OF NORTH AMERICA*Ñ



JÐ1.	GLACIERS OF CANADA

	INTRODUCTION

	By RICHARD S. WILLIAMS, JR., and JANE G. FERRIGNO, Editors

	HISTORY OF GLACIER INVESTIGATIONS IN CANADA

	By C. SIMON L. OMMANNEY

	MAPPING CANADAÕS GLACIERS

	By C. SIMON L. OMMANNEY

	With a section on MAPPING GLACIERS IN THE INTERIOR RANGES AND ROCKY MOUNTAINS WITH 
LANDSAT DATA

	By ROGER D. WHEATE, ROBERT W. SIDJAK, and GARNET T. WHYTE

	GLACIERS OF THE ARCTIC ISLANDS

	GLACIERS OF THE HIGH ARCTIC ISLANDS

	By ROY M. KOERNER

	ELLESMERE ISLAND ICE SHELVES AND ICE ISLANDS

	By MARTIN O. JEFFRIES

	GLACIERS OF BAFFIN ISLAND

	By JOHN T. ANDREWS

	With sections on BARNES ICE CAP: GEOMORPHOLOGY AND THERMODYNAMICS

	By GERALD HOLDSWORTH

	LATE 20TH CENTURY CHANGE AT THE BARNES ICE CAP MARGIN

	By JOHN D. JACOBS

	GLACIERS OF THE CANADIAN ROCKIES

	By C. SIMON L. OMMANNEY

	GLACIERS OF THE COAST MOUNTAINS

	By GARRY K.C. CLARKE and GERALD HOLDSWORTH

	GLACIERS OF THE ST. ELIAS MOUNTAINS

	By GARRY K.C. CLARKE and GERALD HOLDSWORTH

	With a section on QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENTS OF TWEEDSMUIR GLACIER AND LOWELL 
GLACIER IMAGERY

	By GERALD HOLDSWORTH, PHILIP J. HOWARTH, and C. SIMON L. OMMANNEY

JÐ2.	GLACIERS OF THE CONTERMINOUS UNITED STATES

	GLACIERS OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES

	By ROBERT M. KRIMMEL

	With a section on GLACIER RETREAT IN GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, MONTANA

	By CARL H. KEY, DANIEL B. FAGRE, and RICHARD K. MENICKE

JÐ3.	GLACIERS OF MƒXICO

	By SIDNEY E. WHITE



*Excluding Alaska. The Glaciers of Alaska is a separate chapter, 1386ÐK, in this U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper series

SATELLITE IMAGE ATLAS OF GLACIERS OF THE WORLD

Edited by RICHARD S. WILLIAMS, Jr., and JANE G. FERRIGNO

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1386ÐJ 

Landsat images, together with aerial photographs, selected maps, and other data, have been 
used to provide a baseline of mid-1970Õs glacierization in Canada, the conterminous 
United States, and MŽxico


UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON: 2002




U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

GALE A. NORTON, Secretary

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

Charles G. Groat, Director




Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data



(Revised for vol. J)

Satellite image atlas of glaciers of the world.

(U.S. Geological Survey professional paper; 1386)

Includes bibliography.

Contents: Ñ Ch. B. Antarctica, by Charles Swithinbank; with sections on The Òdry valleysÓ of Victoria Land, by Trevor J. Chinn, 
[and] Landsat images of Antarctica, by Richard S. Williams, Jr., and Jane G. Ferrigno Ñ Ch. C. Greenland, by Anker Weidick Ñ 
Ch. E. Glaciers of Europe Ñ Ch. G. Glaciers of the Middle East and Africa Ñ Ch. H. Glaciers of Irian Jaya, Indonesia, and New 
Zealand Ñ Ch. I. Glaciers of South America Ñ Ch. J. Glaciers of North America

Supt. of Docs. no.: I 19.16:1386ÐJ

1. GlaciersÑRemote sensing.    I. Williams, Richard S., Jr.     II. Ferrigno, Jane G.    III. Series.

GB2401.72.R42S28      1988      551.3'12      87-600497


ISBN 0Ð607Ð98290ÐX




Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for 

descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the

U.S. Government











Technical editing by Susan Tufts-Moore

Technical editing by John M. Watson

Design, layout, and illustrations by Kirsten E. Healey

Text review and typesetting by Janice G. Goodell

Layout review by Carolyn H. McQuaig



For sale by the U.S. Geological Survey, Information Services
Box 25286, Federal Center, 
Denver, CO 80225 

Foreword
On 23 July 1972, the first Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS 1 
or Landsat 1) was successfully placed in orbit. The success of Landsat inau-
gurated a new era in satisfying mankindÕs desire to better understand the 
dynamic world upon which we live. Space-based observations have become 
an essential means for monitoring global environmental changes.

The short- and long-term cumulative effects of processes that cause sig-
nificant changes on the EarthÕs surface can be documented and studied by 
repetitive Landsat and other satellite images. Such images provide a perma-
nent historical record of the surface of the planet; they also make possible 
comparative two- and three-dimensional measurements of change over 
time. This Professional Paper demonstrates the importance of the applica-
tion of Landsat images to global studies by using them to determine the 
1970Õs distribution of glaciers on the planet. As images become available 
from future satellites, the new data will be used to document global 
changes in glacier extent by reference to the baseline Landsat image record 
of the 1970Õs.

Although many geological processes take centuries or even millennia to 
produce obvious changes on the EarthÕs surface, other geological phenom-
ena, such as glaciers and volcanoes, cause noticeable changes over shorter 
periods. Some of these phenomena can have a worldwide impact and often 
are interrelated. Explosive volcanic eruptions, such as the 1991 Mount 
Pinatubo, Philippines, eruption, can produce dramatic effects on the global 
climate. Natural or culturally induced processes can cause global climatic 
cooling or warming. Glaciers respond to such warming or cooling periods by 
decreasing or increasing in size, which in turn causes sea level to rise or fall.

As our understanding of the interrelationship of global processes 
improves and our ability to assess changes caused by these processes 
develops further, we will learn how to use indicators of global change, such 
as glacier variation, to manage more wisely the use of our finite land and 
water resources. This USGS Professional Paper series is an excellent exam-
ple of the way in which we can use technology to provide needed earth-sci-
ence information about our planet. The international collaboration 
represented by this report is also an excellent model for the kind of cooper-
ation that scientists will increasingly find necessary in the future in order to 
solve important earth-science problems on a global basis.

Charles G. Groat, 

Director,

U.S. Geological Survey


Preface

This chapter is the seventh chapter to be released in U.S. Geological Sur-
vey Professional Paper 1386, Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World, 
a series of 11 chapters. In each chapter, remotely sensed images, primarily 
from the Landsat 1, 2, and 3 series of spacecraft, are used to study the gla-
cierized regions of our planet and to monitor glacier changes. Landsat 
images, acquired primarily during the middle to late 1970Õs, were used by 
an international team of glaciologists and other scientists to study various 
geographic regions or to discuss glaciological topics. In each geographic 
region, the present areal distribution of glaciers is compared, wherever pos-
sible, with historical information about their past extent. The atlas provides 
an accurate regional inventory of the areal extent of glacier ice on our 
planet during the 1970Õs as part of a growing international scientific effort 
to measure global environmental change on the EarthÕs surface.

The chapter is divided into three parts: Glaciers of Canada (JÐ1), Gla-
ciers of the Conterminous United States (JÐ2), and Glaciers of MŽxico 
(JÐ3). The Glaciers of Alaska is a separate chapter, Chapter 1386ÐK, of this 
series.

Glaciers in Canada are located in three principal geographic settings: on 
several Arctic islands in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of northern 
Canada, in the Rocky Mountains and Interior Ranges of Alberta, British 
Columbia, Yukon Territory, and the Northwest Territories, and along the 
Pacific Coast, where they are sometimes contiguous with glaciers of Alaska. 
Glaciers are also situated in the Ungava Peninsula of northern Labrador, 
Newfoundland, and on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The area cov-
ered by glaciers is estimated to be 151,000 km2 on the Arctic Islands and 
50,000 km2 on the mainland, a total of 201,000 km2 The types of glaciers in 
Canada include ice caps and ice fields and associated outlet glaciers, valley 
glaciers, mountain glaciers, glacierets, and rock glaciers. Landsat images 
are most useful in the study of large glaciers, ice caps and ice fields and 
associated outlet glaciers in Arctic Canada, and of ice fields, outlet glaciers, 
and valley glaciers in western Canada.

Glaciers in the conterminous United States are located in the States of 
Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, 
and Nevada. They have a total area of about 580 km2. Only the first five 
states have glaciers large enough in area to be discernable on Landsat MSS 
images. Many of the volcanoes in the Cascade Range of the western United 
States are capped by glaciers, posing a significant hazard in the form of 
lahars and jškulhlaups in the river basins that originate on the flanks of 
these volcanoes. In Glacier National Park, Montana, the larger cirque gla-
ciers have been reduced in area and volume during the past 150 years, a 
reduction rate that accelerated during the 20th century.

Glaciers in MŽxico are located on two active stratovolcanoes, Volc‡n Cit-
laltŽpetl (nine named glaciers) and PopocatŽpetl (three named glaciers), 
and one dormant stratovolcano, Iztacc’huatl (12 named glaciers). The total 
glacier area in the middle 1960Õs was 11.44 km2; all glaciers have been 
receding during the 20th century. Since 1993, intermittent volcanic activity 
of PopocatŽpetl has produced changes in its glaciers. The small area of 
MŽxicoÕs glaciers limits the usefulness of Landsat MSS data; Landsat 3 RBV 
data, however, has sufficient spatial resolution to delineate glacier margins.





Richard S. Williams, Jr.

Jane G. Ferrigno

Editors


About this Volume

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386, Satellite Image Atlas of 
Glaciers of the World, contains 11 chapters designated by the letters A 
through K. Chapter A is a general chapter containing introductory material 
on the EarthÕs cryosphere, including a discussion of the physical character-
istics, classification, and global distribution of glaciers. The next 10 chap-
ters, B through K, are arranged geographically and present glaciological 
information from Landsat and other sources of data on each of the geo-
graphic areas. Chapter B covers Antarctica; Chapter C, Greenland; Chapter 
D, Iceland; Chapter E, Continental Europe (except for the European part of 
the former Soviet Union), including the Alps, the Pyrenees, Norway, Swe-
den, Svalbard (Norway), and Jan Mayen (Norway); Chapter F, Asia, includ-
ing the European part of the former Soviet Union, China (P.R.C.), India, 
Nepal, Afghanistan, and Pakistan; Chapter G, Turkey, Iran, and Africa; 
Chapter H, Irian Jaya (Indonesia) and New Zealand; Chapter I, South 
America; and Chapter J, North America (excluding Alaska); and Chapter K, 
Alaska.

The realization that one element of the EarthÕs cryosphere, its glaciers, 
was amenable to global inventorying and monitoring with Landsat images 
led to the decision, in late 1979, to prepare this Professional Paper, in which 
Landsat 1, 2, and 3 multispectral scanner (MSS) and Landsat 2 and 3 return 
beam vidicon (RBV) images would be used to inventory the areal occur-
rence of glacier ice on our planet within the boundaries of the spacecraftÕs 
coverage (between about 81¡ north and south latitudes). Through identifi-
cation and analysis of optimum Landsat images of the glacierized areas of 
the Earth during the first decade of the Landsat era, a global benchmark or 
baseline could be established for determining the areal extent of glaciers 
during a relatively narrow time interval (1972 to 1982). This global Òsnap-
shotÓ of glacier extent could then be used for comparative analysis with 
previously published maps and aerial photographs and with new maps, sat-
ellite images, and aerial photographs in order to determine the areal fluctu-
ation of glaciers in response to natural or culturally induced changes in the 
EarthÕs climate.

To accomplish this objective, the editors selected optimum Landsat 
images of each of the glacierized regions of our planet from the Landsat 
image data base at the EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls, S. Dak., although 
some images were also obtained from the Landsat image archives main-
tained by the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 
and by the European Space Agency in Kiruna, Sweden, and Fucino, Italy. 
Between 1979 and 1981, these optimum images were distributed to an 
international team of more than 50 scientists who agreed to write a section 
of the Professional Paper concerning either a geographic area or a glacio-
logical topic. In addition to analyzing images of a specific geographic area, 
each author was also asked to summarize up-to-date information about the 
glaciers within the area and to compare their present areal distribution with 
historical information (for example, from published maps, reports, and pho-
tographs) about their past extent. Completion of this atlas will provide an 
accurate regional inventory of the areal extent of glaciers on our planet 
during the 1970Õs.





Richard S. Williams, Jr.

Jane G. Ferrigno

Editors


Foreword		III

Preface			V

About this Volume			VI

JÐ1.	Glaciers of Canada

Introduction, by Richard S. Williams, Jr., and 
Jane G. Ferrigno, Editors		J1

History of Glacier Investigations in Canada, by 
C. Simon L. Ommanney		J27

Mapping CanadaÕs Glaciers, by C. Simon L. Ommanney		J83

With a section on Mapping Glaciers in the Interior
Ranges and Rocky Mountains with Landsat Data, 
by Roger D. Wheate, Robert W. Sidjak, and 
Garnet T. Whyte		J100

Glaciers of the Arctic Islands

Glaciers of the High Arctic Islands, by Roy M. Koerner		J111

Ellesmere Island Ice Shelves and Ice Islands, 
by Martin O. Jeffries		J147

Glaciers of Baffin Island, by John T. Andrews		J165

With sections on Barnes Ice Cap: Geomorphology and 
Thermodynamics, by Gerald Holdsworth		J178

and Late 20th Century Change at the Barnes Ice Cap 
Margin, by John D. Jacobs		J185

Glaciers of the Canadian Rockies, 
by C. Simon L. Ommanney		J199

Glaciers of the Coast Mountains, by Garry K.C. Clarke 
and Gerald Holdsworth		J291

Glaciers of the St. Elias Mountains, by Garry K.C. Clarke 
and Gerald Holdsworth		J301

With a section on Quantitative Measurements of the
Tweedsmuir Glacier and Lowell Glacier Imagery, 
by Gerald Holdsworth, Philip J. Howarth, and 
C. Simon L. Ommanney		J312

JÐ2.	Glaciers of the Conterminous United States

Glaciers of the Western United States, by 
Robert M. Krimmel		J329

With a section on Glacier retreat in Glacier National 
Park, Montana, by Carl H. Key, Daniel B. Fagre, and 
Richard K. Menicke		J365

JÐ3.	Glaciers of MŽxico, by Sidney E. White		J383