Malaspina Glacier

Malaspina Glacier is a vast piedmont glacier in southeastern Alaska, where ice from the Saint Elias Mountains spreads across a coastal plain toward the Gulf of Alaska.

Piedmont glacier: A glacier that spreads into a broad lobe after emerging from a mountain valley onto flatter land. Malaspina is a textbook example of this glacier form.
Saint Elias Mountains: A high mountain range on the Alaska–Canada border that includes some of North America’s tallest peaks. These mountains supply the ice that feeds Malaspina.
Malaspina Glacier foreland: The low-lying terrain exposed or shaped in front of Malaspina Glacier. Its landforms record how the glacier has advanced, retreated, and redistributed sediment.
Malaspina Glacier surge: A documented episode of rapid advance in Malaspina Glacier’s history. The surge illustrates that even a vast piedmont glacier can undergo abrupt flow changes.
Bering Glacier: A large Alaskan glacier system that flows from the Saint Elias Mountains toward the Gulf of Alaska. Like Malaspina, it drains the Saint Elias Mountains, but through a different outlet system.
Gulf of Alaska: A North Pacific gulf bordered by southern Alaska and the Alaska Peninsula. Malaspina spreads toward this gulf along Alaska’s coastal plain.
Glacial lake: A lake formed or impounded by glacial ice or by water from glacier melt. Lakes near Malaspina reveal meltwater pathways and changing ice margins.
Seward Glacier: A large glacier in the Saint Elias Mountains that crosses the Alaska–Canada border. It belongs to the same mountain region whose ice feeds Malaspina.
Glacier flow: The movement of glacier ice under gravity through deformation and sliding. Ice flow from mountain valleys spreads outward to build Malaspina’s piedmont lobe.
Bagley Icefield: A large icefield in the Saint Elias Mountains that feeds several major Alaskan glaciers. Its outlet glaciers contribute to the ice system associated with Malaspina.

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