University of Alaska professors and glacier researchers Jason Amundson and Martin Truffer will present the March 11 Fireside Lecture on the Taku Glacier at Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. The free lectures occur at 6:30 p.m. and repeat at 8 p.m.
Scientists have been studying Taku Glacier for many decades, monitoring its fluctuations of advance and retreat. Taku is the only glacier out of the Juneau Icefield’s 38 glaciers which is currently advancing.
Taku Glacier is fed by many high elevation glaciers. This glacial movement mobilizes large amounts of sediment as the ice advances into Taku Inlet. Truffer and Amundson will focus on the implications of sediment transport on glacier dynamics and stability.
In the mid-1700s Taku Glacier advanced across the Taku River to block much of the flow of the river. In the 1890s the glacier had retreated a few miles from its present location. A photo from that period shows a large steamship in front of the glacier. The river was more navigable in the 1950s than it is today due to sediment deposit from Taku and other glaciers.
Prior to the changes in Mendenhall Glacier and Suicide Basin, which started causing frequent glacial outburst floods into Mendenhall Lake and River, Taku River was the most well-known local site for jokulhlaups which brought sudden seasonal floods to the river. The primary source was Lake No Lake, aptly named for its characteristic draining when the glacial dam broke each summer.
Fireside Lectures, hosted by the US Forest Service, are presented at no charge in the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center every Friday during January, February and March. Lecture refreshments are provided by Alaska Geographic, the non-profit partner which operates the center’s bookstore.
Federal lands passes and other items may be purchased at the bookstore during the lectures and on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through March. To prepare for summer visitors, the visitor center will be closed in April.
