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| The Columbia Glacier in Alaska has retreated about 8
miles over the last 18 years and is disintegrating at an increasing
rate |
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) -- Alaska's Columbia Glacier, which moves into the sea
at a rate of up to 110 feet (34 meters) a day, is ready to disintegrate,
leaving a spectacular fjord, researchers said on Tuesday.
It should
eventually retreat as far as 15 miles (25 km) up the valley it
has carved out to a point equal to sea level, Tad Pfeffer, University
of Colorado at Boulder researcher, said.
"It should
be quite a spectacular sight in the not too distant future,"
Pfeffer said in a statement.
The glacier,
which stretches from the Chugach Mountains into Prince Williams
Sound near Valdez, has retreated about 8 miles (12 km) since 1982
and thinned quite a bit.
The glacier is breaking off new icebergs into Prince Williams
Sound much faster than it is accumulating new snow, said Pfeffer,
an associate professor in civil, environmental and architectural
engineering.
"It is
spending its capital, in effect. The glacier either will retreat
rapidly up the fjord or thin rapidly and essentially disintegrate
in an abrupt event."
Writing in
Eos, a weekly newspaper published by the American Geophysical
Union, Pfeffer and colleagues said measurements show the Columbia
Glacier is about 34 miles (54 km) long, 3 miles (5 km) wide and
more than 3,000 feet (1,000 meters) thick in some places.
It started
moving more quickly in 1982, probably as an indirect response
to the warming climate, Pfeffer said. Neighboring glaciers do
not show the same dramatic changes.
"The
loss of ice primarily is due to calving (breaking) rather than
to thermal reasons," he said.
He said the
icebergs broken off into Prince William Sound pose a potential
hazard to ships, but eventually may attract more traffic to the
region.
"I think
we may be seeing tour boats where the glacier is presently sitting
in the not too distant future," Pfeffer said.
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