Holyoke Glacier is a 1.5-mile-long (2.4 km)
glacier
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...
in the
U.S. state of
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., ...
. It trends southeast on the west bank of
College Fjord
College Fjord is a fjord located in the northern sector of Prince William Sound in the U.S. state of Alaska. The fjord contains five tidewater glaciers (glaciers that terminate in water), five large valley glaciers, and dozens of smaller glaciers ...
, southwest of
College Point and east of
Anchorage
Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...
. It was named by U.S. Grant and D.F. Higgins, USGS, in 1908. It was named for
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States.
...
in
South Hadley, Massachusetts
South Hadley (, ) is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,150 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.
South Hadley is home to Mount Holyoke Colleg ...
.
Geography
Holyoke Glacier, which heads in a large cirque and is fed by two glaciers from a small cirque on the south, has two weak medial moraines extending from spurs between its south tributaries. There are no lateral moraines, but there are a few morainic patches along the terminus. The glacier is longer than
Barnard Glacier, and extends out over the lip of its hanging valley. In 1910, the glacier nowhere extended to the borders of its barren zone, and the mature spruce forest between the small terminal barren zone and the fiord demonstrates that it has not extended beyond this barren zone for a century or more. No distinct signs of recent advance were seen. The cliff glaciers on the ledges south of Holyoke Glacier present no unusual features.
See also
*
List of glaciers
A glacier ( ) or () is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight; it forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation (melting and sublimation) over many years, often centuries. Glaciers slowly deform ...
References
*
Glaciers of Alaska
Glaciers of Chugach Census Area, Alaska
Glaciers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska
{{ChugachAK-geo-stub