The Bagley Icefield (also called Bagley Ice Valley) in southeastern

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

is the second largest nonpolar

icefield An ice field (also spelled icefield) is a mass of interconnected valley glaciers (also called mountain glaciers or alpine glaciers) on a mountain mass with protruding rock ridges or summits. They are often found in the colder climates and highe ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. It was named after James W. Bagley, a

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

topographic Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scie ...

engineer who developed the Bagley T-3 camera and mapped Alaska prior to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. At 200 km (127 mi) long, 10 km (6 mi) wide, and up to 1 km (3,000 ft) thick, it covers most of the core of the

Saint Elias Mountains The Saint Elias Mountains (french: Chaîne Saint-Élie) are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, Southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range ...

and part of the

Chugach Mountains The Chugach Mountains of southern Alaska are the northernmost of the several mountain ranges that make up the Pacific Coast Ranges of the western edge of North America. The range is about long and wide, and extends from the Knik and Turnagain ...

. It nourishes dozens of

valley glacier A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

s that drain down both sides of the range, including the

Tana Tana may refer to: Places Africa * Lake Tana, a lake in Ethiopia (and a source of the Nile River) * Tana Qirqos, an island in the eastern part of Lake Tana in Ethiopia, near the mouth of the Gumara River * Tana River County, a county of Coast P ...

, Miles, and

Guyot In marine geology, a guyot (pronounced ), also known as a tablemount, is an isolated underwater volcanic mountain ( seamount) with a flat top more than below the surface of the sea. The diameters of these flat summits can exceed .Bering Glacier Bering Glacier is a glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska. It currently terminates in Vitus Lake south of Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, about from the Gulf of Alaska. Combined with the Bagley Icefield, where the snow that feeds the gl ...

System, including tributaries, is 5,200 km² (1,900 sq mi). 19th-century explorers attempting to climb Mt. St. Elias, including

Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, (29 January 1873 – 18 March 1933) was an Italian mountaineer and explorer, briefly Infante of Spain as son of Amadeo I of Spain, member of the royal House of Savoy and cousin of the Italian King Vi ...

, who successfully made the first ascent in 1897, did not recognize that the huge glacier now named Bagley Icefield actually forms the upper reaches of the distant and similarly vast Bering Glacier, which had been named earlier, after observation from the coast. The glacier is protected within the boundaries of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

References

{{Reflist Bodies of ice of Unorganized Borough, Alaska Bodies of ice of Yakutat City and Borough, Alaska Glaciers of Chugach Census Area, Alaska Glaciers of Copper River Census Area, Alaska Ice fields of Alaska Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve

See also

References