Fairbanks Alaska Sees Unusual Glacier Surge

The Muldrow Glacier has grabbed the attention of National Park scientists this spring.

It’s been moving more than 100 times faster than usual.

It’s accelerated from 16 centimeters a day to 65 feet a day.

That’s a new land speed record for this glacier.

This type of movement is called a glacier surge and these surges usually last for a short period of time.

It’s common that a surge results in an increase in speed of over 100 times pre-surge rates.

They occur when the glacier becomes detached from the ground or ‘bed’ beneath them, causing them to slide quite quickly for a relatively short distance.

Scientists have been studying this phenomenon, trying to understand the exact reasons for the surges.

They believe it may be caused by a breakdown in the normal sub glacier water flow system.

This glacier is the largest on the north side of the Alaska Range, and it’s very familiar to visitors as you can see it from the road entering Denali National Park.

The Muldrow glacier usually moves east toward the McKinley River, eventually connecting with the Traleika Glacier and Brooks Glacier as tributaries.

The Mudrow hasn’t surged in over six decades so scientists have been expecting one, but glacier surges are very difficult to predict.

A pilot (Chris Palms) for K2 Aviation was flying over the north side of Denali on March 4 when he noticed something unusual. Chris took images of the activity during his flight as proof of what he was seeing.

K2 is affiliated with the National Park Service, so their scientists were immediately notified of his observations.

The images included evidence of cracks and crevices along the full length of the surface of the glacier, which…

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