TR: still no skiing

[damian 0]

O11 - You can get dog panniers. I am tempted to make him start carrying his own food and other small things. Having an endowed dog is a boost for my male ego. Its why I got a male dog.

 

SG - those depleted glaciers are at about 2700m, roughly north facing.

 

Soub - looking forward to more when you are back in form.

 

Plucky - where are you? This is your game.

[Plucky 0]

Sorry, I don't get the chance to check the site much from work. I was supposed to have internet at home last Friday but it was discovered that the 40 year old wiring in my apartment needs to be replaced before it will function. Ughhhh.....

 

To be technical, a lot of what people are calling mini-glaciers or small glaciers aren't actually glaciers at all. Those are simply remnants of glaciers or 'dead ice' as we always called it. An actual glacier must exhibit some form of motion either through internal processes or basal sliding. For this to occur the general rule of thumb is that the ice must be at least 50 meters thick for internal deformation to occur. Below 50 meters, the ice tends to take on a state of plasticity where the deformation occurs. Above 50 meters is the brittle zone where crevasses reside. That's a general summary at least.

 

It can be hard to tell what a true rock glacier is. The term is fairly ambiguous and the criteria for classification varied. I know that a lot of them do exist in the Alps, however, but they are usually pretty large and quite noticeable. To be termed a rock glacier, down slope movement and deformation must be present the same as a regular glacier although occurring at a much slower pace.

 

I've been on this rock glacier across from Atlin, BC. Pretty damn cool!

 

 

It's on Atlin Mountain (wow, it's actually sunny there in this pic - rare!)

 

So, in summary, just because ice is present does not mean that you are looking at a glacier. Generally, if no firn is present late in the summer, you are looking at dead ice. With rock glaciers, you generally want to look for small ridges (similar to how cooling lava looks) which are telltale signs of down slope movement.

 

--

 

I was browsing through google maps today looking at some of the peaks in the NW US and was a bit disheartened by what I saw. Many of the glaciers I used to ski on in the summer are disappearing very, very, very, very, very, very, very fast. Very fast. The glacier I fell/slid down for 300 meters on the South Sister in Oregon 7 years ago is now nothing but a tiny patch of firn (it's shaded). It saddens me.

 

Humans have almost surely impacted the climate on Earth. In the 70's in Los Angeles, for example, the air was almost unbreathable and blue sky days almost unheard of. With the advent of cleaner burning fuels and toughening of enviro regulations, drastic changes for the better have ocurred even with double the population in the area.

 

Okay, I've rambled on enough

 

Great pics spud - looks like it was a great trip! Only 10 days until I head down to Austria!!! Also, we're expecting some snow over here starting Thursday. I highly doubt it will stick but it will be nice to see the white stuff again. I got an email the other day from a friend in Alaska - they just had a 12" dump the other night. Of course, I leave and they have the beginnings of a bomber winter. Man, same thing happened when I left Japan

[nzlegend 1]

 Quote:

Originally posted by Ocean11:
> SG, soubs isn't in denial about humans affecting global warming - he seems to be in a position to be skeptical about it due to his own researches.

I wasnt aiming at him with my comment; more of a general comment aimed more at politicians and businessmen in affluent yet effluent spewing countries.