UNITED STATES QEOLOGICAL SURVEY TO ACCOMPANY HYDROLOQIC INVESTIGATIONS ATLAS HA-455 GLACIER DAMMED LAKES AND OUTBURST FLOODS IN ALASKA BY
Glaciers in Alaska cover an area of about 73,800 square kilometers (28,500 square miles). They are most highly concentrated along the Pacific Coast and in the south-central part of the State. Many of these g1aciers;as elsewhere in the world, flow across the mouths of adjoining valleys and cause lake...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.562.1809 http://137.229.113.30/webpubs/usgs/ha/text/ha-0455.pdf |
| Summary: | Glaciers in Alaska cover an area of about 73,800 square kilometers (28,500 square miles). They are most highly concentrated along the Pacific Coast and in the south-central part of the State. Many of these g1aciers;as elsewhere in the world, flow across the mouths of adjoining valleys and cause lakes to form behind the ice streams. These glacier ice dams are subject to repeated fa i lure. Because most Alaskan communities and transportation routes are situated along rivers which flow from glaciers the hazards presented by glacier dammed lakes are serious. The damage by floods from these lakes will increase if people encroach into areas where flooding occurs. Glacier dammed lakes in south-central and southeastern Alaska and in adjacent Canada which drain into rivers entering Alaska are included in this study. Such lakes are numerous in this area; 750 glacier dammed lakes have been plotted on the maps on sheets 1 and 2. The number and size of individual lakes vary enormously during the seasons and from year to year; the total number of lakes plotted provides an indication of their abundance. Not included in this report are the few, very small lakes dammed by glaciers that are widely scattered in the |
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