VARIATIONS OF GLACIERS 513 



Professor Lawrence Martin sends me the following information 

 regarding the Alaskan glaciers: 



College Fiord. — Miss Keen visited Prince William Sound during the sum- 

 mer of 1 914 for the exploration of the Harvard Glacier, and made careful 

 observations of the variations of a number of other glaciers. 1 She found that 

 the Harvard Glacier is 18 miles long, or about 28 miles if the Brunonian 

 Glacier tributary is included. It rises at an elevation of about 7,500 feet. 

 The eastern side of the end of Harvard Glacier seems to have retreated slightly 

 between 1910 and 1914, but the western edge near Radcliffe Glacier was still 

 advancing. There was no observable change in Downer, Baltimore, and Smith 

 glaciers. Bryn Mawr may have retreated slightly; the barren zone at its 

 northern border was widest, but the evidence was conflicting, for a shrub north 

 of the glacier was being overturned at the time of Miss Keen's visit. Vassar 

 Glacier was more crevassed in 1914 than in 1910, but had not advanced appre- 

 ciably; Wellesley Glacier had retreated slightly; Yale Glacier seems to have 

 advanced a little; Barnard had a slight forward movement. 



Harriman Fiord. — The recession of Barry Glacier, observed in 1913, con- 

 tinued in 1914. The total recession of different parts of the ice front, from 

 1910 to September 25, 1914, was 3,000-7,000 feet. Cascade Glacier was 

 nearly independent of the Barry in 1914. Of the other ice tongues in Harriman 

 Fiord the Baker Glacier advanced at least 1,000 feet between 1910 and 1914, 

 and spread considerably at both borders. The Harriman and Roaring glaciers 

 seem to be still advancing. A small unnamed ice mass on the slopes of Mt. 

 Muir moved forward slightly. The Surprise, Cataract, Serpentine, Toboggan, 

 and Dirty glaciers were unchanged. 



Eastern Prince William Sound. — The Valdez Glacier, continuing its long- 

 maintained recession, melted back about 200 feet from 1909 to August 10, 

 1914. Shoup Glacier advanced very slightly. Columbia Glacier, the largest 

 ice tongue in Prince William Sound, is also the most interesting, for it has 

 continued the slow forward movement that has been in progress since before 

 1908. Miss Keen found that the eastern border advanced 1,500 feet between 

 1910 and September 30, 1914, and spread laterally; in other parts the advance 

 was less, being perhaps 1,300 feet on Heather Island. Photographs of Childs 

 Glacier, by Robert Sewall, show that in July, 19 14, its northern border was 

 retreating. 



Southeastern Alaska. — It was reported in the Juneau papers that Norris 

 Glacier, in Taku Inlet, had made a considerable advance. A photograph of 

 the Taku Glacier, taken about 1907, shows a distinct advance since 1890. 



Dr. Martin has tabulated the snowfall and temperature as 

 recorded at several Alaskan stations. He finds not only great 

 differences in different years, but the years of maximum snowfall 



1 Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, XL VII (1915), 117-19. 



