Glacier Creek

Black cottonwoods along Glacier Creek in Girdwood, Alaska with Mount Alyeska in the background. This area is adjacent to the Chugach National Forest in south central Alaska.

Glacier Creek is a stream on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, US. Its main tributaries are Crow, California, and Winner creeks.

Geography

Glacier Creek flows into the north side of Turnagain Arm 9 miles (14 km) east of Sunrise, Alaska. It is about 8 miles (13 km) long and flows in a broad, flat-bottomed valley. The whole drainage area comprises about 45 square miles (120 km²) and is a region of very rough topography.^[1] Glacier Creek joins Turnagain Arm at a point 75 miles (121 km) from Seward. The main valley is a straight, broadly U-shaped trough and heads in a wide basin into which several small glaciers drain. A number of these glaciers are visible from Turnagain Arm and have given the stream its name. Its larger tributaries are California and Crow creeks, from the northwest, and Winner Creek, from the southeast. Virgin Creek flows into the same broad valley but joins Turnagain Arm a short distance southeast of the mouth of Glacier Creek.^[2] Crow Creek is the only notable tributary.^[3]

Tributaries

Crow Creek is the largest tributary of Glacier Creek. It rises in the high mountains of the divide between this part of the Turnagain Arm drainage and Eagle River, a tributary of Knik Arm. It is 4–5 miles (6.4–8.0 km) in length, heading against Raven Creek of the Eagle River drainage in a broad pass—Crow Creek Pass—about 3,550 feet (1,080 m)) feet above sea level and entering Glacier Creek from the northwest at a point 5 miles (8.0 km) from Turnagain Arm.^[1]

California Creek has cut a steep, narrow, V-shaped valley in the mountains west of Glacier Creek, which it joins 2 miles (3.2 km) from the arm. Its bedrock comprises the same materials found on Crow Creek. The gravels are similar, also, but carry less granite and do not show in the same degree the effect of glacial action.^[1]

Winner Creek joins Glacier Creek just below the mouth of Crow Creek. Its valley, bedrock, and gravels resemble those of California Creek.^[1]

References

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: G. C. Martin's, B. L. Johnson's, U. S. Grant's "Geology and Mineral Resources of Kenai Peninsula, Alaska" (1915)
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: U.S. Geological Survey's "Bulletin" (1917)
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: U.S. Geological Survey's "Bulletin - United States Geological Survey" (1905)

1. Martin, George Curtis; Johnson, Bertrand Leroy; Grant, Ulysses Sherman (1915). Geology and Mineral Resources of Kenai Peninsula, Alaska (Public domain ed.). U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 188–.
2. United States Geological Survey (1917). Bulletin (Public domain ed.). The Survey. pp. 174–.
3. U.S. Geological Survey (1905). Bulletin - United States Geological Survey (Public domain ed.). The Survey. pp. 90–.

Coordinates: 60°56′13″N 149°10′22″W / 60.9369°N 149.1728°W