MATANUSKA GLACIER, ALASKA*

• Main Authors: John R. Williams, Oscar J. Ferrians
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anchorage; Arctic; glacier; glaciers; Ice; permafrost; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.580.3745; http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic14-2-82.pdf

The Matanuska Glacier (Fig. 2) is one of the largest glaciers that extend north from the snow and ice fields of the central Chugach Mountains of southern Alaska. It drains 250 square miles of the highest part of the range between Mt. Witherspoon (12,023 feet) and Mt. Marcus Baker (13,176 feet). The glacier terminates in the upper Matanuska Valley that separates the Chugach Mountains from the Talkeetna Mountains to the north. The ter-minus, 82 miles northeast of Anchorage, is visible from “scenic overlooks’’ between mileposts 98 and 108 on the Glenn Highway and is accessible by a cable car across the Matanuska River at J. D. Richardson’s residence near milepost 103. Studies of the glacier in 1953, 1954, and 1957 were part of the authors ’ investigation of the glacial geology of the southwestern Copper River Basin and upper Matanuska Valley. The studies are a part of the program of terrain and permafrost investigations in Alaska by the U. S.