Grinnell Glacier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Grinnell Glacier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Grinnell Glacier is located in the heart of Glacier National Park (U.S.) in the U.S. state of Montana. The glacier is named for George Bird Grinnell, an early American conservationist and explorer, who was also a strong advocate of ensuring the creation of Glacier National Park. The glacier is in the Lewis Range and rests on the north flank of Mount Gould at an altitude averaging 7,000 feet (2,100 m), in the Many Glacier region of the park.^[3]
The glacier has been one of the most photographed glaciers in the park and many of these photographs date back to the mid 19th century. When compared with images taken over subsequent years, the glacier has obviously retreated substantially. In 1850, at the end of what has been referred to as the Little Ice Age, Grinnell Glacier measured 710 acres (2.9 km²), including the area of The Salamander Glacier, an ice apron or shelf glacier that used to be attached to Grinnell, but is now separate. By 1993, Grinnell Glacier measured 220 acres (0.89 km²) and The Salamander measured 57 acres (0.23 km²).^[4] Between 1966 and 2005, Grinnell Glacier lost almost 40 percent of its acreage.^[2] Glaciologists have predicted that all the glaciers in the park, including Grinnell, will disappear by the year 2030.^[5] Between 1966 and 2005, Grinnell Glacier lost almost 40 percent of its acreage.^[2]