Muldrow Glacier, also known as McKinley Glacier, is a large

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 ...

Denali National Park and Preserve Denali National Park and Preserve, formerly known as Mount McKinley National Park, is an American national park and preserve located in Interior Alaska, centered on Denali, the highest mountain in North America. The park and contiguous preserve e ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

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., ...

. Native names for the glacier include, Henteel No' Loo' and Henteel No' Loot. The glacier originates from the Great Icefall of Harper Glacier on the eastern side of

Denali Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the thir ...

. The glacier moves generally eastward, receiving

Traleika Glacier Traleika Glacier is a glacier in Denali National Park and Preserve in the U.S. state of Alaska. The glacier originates from two forks on either side of Farthing Horn on the east side of Denali. The west fork of the glacier starts in the Thayer Ba ...

and

Brooks Glacier Brooks Glacier is a glacier in Denali National Park and Preserve in the U.S. state of Alaska. The glacier originates on the east face of Mount Silverthrone at Brooks Gap. The glacier moves northeast, joining Muldrow Glacier between Mount Brooks ...

as tributaries, then turning northward to emerge from the Alaska Range as the source of the

McKinley River The McKinley River ( taa, Henteel no' Tl'o) is a tributary of the Kantishna River in central Alaska in the United States. It drains an area on the north slope of the Alaska Range on the south edge of the Tanana Valley southwest of Fairbanks. The ...

. Muldrow Glacier was renamed by Alfred Hulse Brooks in 1902 in honor of

U.S. Geological Survey 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, and ...

topographer Robert Muldrow. In 2021, the glacier was noted to be growing in a surge that greatly exceeds the scant previous records of its status. In April that year scientists were documenting growth of the glacier at one hundred times its normal rate, advancing up to ninety feet a day during the prior few months.

References

Glaciers of Denali Borough, Alaska Glaciers of Denali National Park and Preserve Denali Glaciers of Alaska {{Alaska-glacier-stub

See also

References