GLACIERS AND GLACIATION 



BY GROVE KARL GILBERT 

 INTRODUCTION 



THE glaciers of Alaska are many and the district 

 through which they are distributed is large. The region 

 formerly overrun by them is still larger. Ten years 

 ago Russell and Kerr surveyed and studied Malaspina 

 Glacier and its dependencies, and about the same time 

 Reid made a scientific survey of Glacier Bay and its 

 bordering glaciers ; but these two tracts are only dots on 

 the general map. All other glacial studies in the great 

 field have been of the nature of reconnaissance and most 

 of them have been carried on incidentally in connection 

 with general geographic or geologic work. The Harriman 

 Expedition added one more to the list of reconnaissances. 



Until recently observations have been limited to the 

 coast and it is still true that the greater number of glaciers 

 which have been studied or mapped are coastal, or at least 

 visible from the sea; but at the present time interior gla- 

 ciers are receiving more attention, and knowledge of them 

 is rapidly growing. Geographic investigation, so long as 



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