Watkins Glacier
| Watkins Glacier | |
|---|---|
  Watkins Glacier Location in California | |
| Type | Mountain glacier |
| Location | Siskiyou County, California, United States |
| Coordinates | 41°23′57″N 122°10′38″W / 41.39917°N 122.17722°WCoordinates: 41°23′57″N 122°10′38″W / 41.39917°N 122.17722°W[1] |
| Area | .04 sq mi (0.10 km2) |
| Length | .2 mi (0.32 km) |
| Terminus | Moraine |
| Status | Expanding |
The Watkins Glacier is a glacier situated on the southeastern flank of Mount Shasta, in the U.S. state of California. It occupies a small cirque in the Clear Creek drainage. It is the smallest officially-named glacier on Mount Shasta, and it was not accorded that status until 1976, following a decades-long campaign by local resident R. Harry Watkins, Jr., to bring recognition to the previously-ignored glacier.[2]
The Watkins is one of three small cirque glaciers on the southern side of Shasta, along with the Konwakiton and Mud Creek Glaciers located about 1 mi (1.6 km) west. It has the lowest average elevation of any of Shasta's glaciers, extending only between 10,400 and 11,000 ft (3,200 and 3,400 m).[3]
In 2002, scientists made the first detailed survey of Mount Shasta's glaciers in 50 years. They found that seven of the glaciers (including the Watkins) have grown over the period 1951-2002, with the Hotlum and Wintun Glaciers nearly doubling, the Bolam Glacier increasing by half, and the Whitney and Konwakiton Glaciers growing by a third.[4][5][6]
See also
References
- ↑ "Watkins Glacier". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
- ↑ "Existing Glaciers of Mount Shasta". College of the Siskiyous. Retrieved 2007-03-07.
- ↑ Google Earth elevation for GNIS coordinates
- ↑ Harris, Stephen L. (2005). Fire Mountains of the West: The Cascade and Mono Lake Volcanoes (3rd ed.). Mountain Press Publishing Company. p. 109. ISBN 0-87842-511-X.
- ↑ Wong, Kathleen. "California Glaciers". California Wild. California Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on 2006-10-06. Retrieved 2007-01-23.
- ↑ Whitney, David (September 4, 2006). "A growing glacier: Mount Shasta bucks global trend, and researchers cite warming phenomena". The Bee. Archived from the original on 2007-01-21. Retrieved 2007-01-23.
- Driedger, Carolyn L.; Kennard, Paul M. (1986). "Ice volumes on Cascade volcanoes; Mount Rainier, Mount Hood, Three Sisters, and Mount Shasta". U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1365. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
- "Glaciers of California". Glaciers of the American West. Glaciers Online. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. Retrieved 2007-03-07.