THE VARIATIONS OF GLACIERS 407 



glacier, there is very little vegetation — practically nothing except fire- 

 weed, which has encroached upon this territory only a few feet. Brooks 

 glacier enters the head of Unakwik Bay. It is formed by the junction 

 of two branches, and comes down to tide water; the front is about 

 a mile and a quarter in width and is actively discharging. As viewed 

 from a distance of about a mile, trees and bushes are seen to come 

 down to the ice, and there is no zone, or a very narrow one, between 

 the ice and the vegetation. The extreme front of Barry glacier, Port 

 Wells, has retreated at least a mile since 1899. The long point which 

 projected into Doran Strait for nearly two miles has entirely disap- 

 peared, and the front is now nearly straight across. The little tongue 

 of ice which lay along the east side of the glacier has also disappeared. 

 Photographs and sketches of the front of the glacier were obtained to 

 show its exact position in 1905. 



Photographs and observations were made of a number of the 

 smaller glaciers and all seem to be in retreat. Several of these have 

 been observed for the first time, and the data obtained will serve as 

 a basis for future changes. 



A short account of the glaciers of the Wrangell Mountians, with 

 a map showing their locations, is contained in Mr. W. E. Mendenhall's 

 "Geology of the Central Copper River Region," Alaska.^ Some 

 of the glaciers are 30 and 40 miles long. Those of the west slope 

 are smaller than those flowing in other directions, which is ascribed 

 to the volcanic heat of the rocks. The glaciers were at one time 

 much larger than they are now, but no information is given regarding 

 recent changes. 



The Yakutat Bay glaciers were especially studied last summer 

 by Professor Tarr and Mr. Martin,^ and the positions of the glaciers 

 compared with their positions as noted by Professor Russell in 1891, 

 and by the Harriman expedition in 1899. The Turner glacier, 

 which reaches the sea in Disenchantment Bay, indicated a general 

 recession between 1891 and 1899, and a slight advance on the sides 

 between 1895 and 1905 with a recession in the center. The north- 

 western half of Hubbard glacier has also advanced in the last six 



1 U. S. Geological Survey, Professional Paper No. 41. 



2 "Glaciers and Glaciation of Yakutat Bay," Bulletin of the American Geological 

 Society, Vol. XXXVIII, pp. 145-67. 



