THE 



NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY 

 RESEARCHES IN ALASKA 



By Lawrence Martin 



Leader of the National Geographic Society's 1910 



Expedition to Alaska 



The Research Committee of the National Geographic Society has made an 

 appropriation of $5,000 from the research fund to continue the studies of the 

 Alaska glaciers which were conducted by the Society in 1000 and 1010. The work 

 this year is in charge of Prof. Ralph S. Tarr, of Cornell University , and Prof. 

 Lawrence Martin, of the University of Wisconsin. These gentlemen were also 

 in charge of the work in 1000, but in 1010 Professor Tarr had engagements in 

 Europe, so that the entire zvork of that summer rested upon Professor Martin. 

 An account of the National Geographic Society's igog expedition to Alaska zvas 

 printed in the January, igio, number of the National Geographic Magazine. 



DURING the summer of 1910 

 nearly four months were devoted 

 to a continuation of the glacier 

 studies commenced in 1909 under the di- 

 rection of the Research Committee of the 

 National Geographic Society. It is for- 

 tunate that this fund is available just at 

 the time when unusual activity of gla- 

 ciers in Alaska is in progress. The gla- 

 ciers are now so active that it is perhaps 

 the opportunity of a century or more. 



The field investigated in 1910 was 

 Prince William Sound, but a two weeks' 

 visit was made to Yakutat Bay in June 

 to record the latest news from the un- 

 usually interesting active glaciers there, 

 ..and a fortnight at the end of the season 

 was devoted to the glaciers of the lower 

 Copper River. 



The party consisted of seven men — 

 the author; W. B. Lewis, of the U. S. 

 Geological Survey, topographer ; E. F. 

 Bean and F. E. Williams, of the Univer- 

 sity of Wisconsin, the former taking 

 ■charge of the sounding and weather rec- 

 ords, the latter acting as rodman ; E. A. 

 Connor and R. F. Byers, of the Univer- 

 sity of Washington, respectively boat 

 engineer and photographer, and a Japa- 

 nese cook. F. M. O'Neill, of Memphis, 

 Tennessee, was also employed as engineer 

 the latter part of the season. We started 

 May 28 and were gone until Sept. 23. 



One of the large glaciers in Yakutat 

 Bay, the Nunatak, had changed a great 



deal since the year before. It had ad- 

 vanced decidedly, different parts of its 

 front having come out 700 to 1,000 feet 

 up to June 17, 19 10. From 1890 to 1909 

 the Nunatak Glacier receded steadily, 

 going back over two miles and a half in 

 this time. We had anticipated that it 

 would eventually advance, however, as 

 was predicted in the National Geo- 

 graphic Magazine for January, 19 10, 

 and the forward movement commenced 

 between July 6, 1909, and June, 19 10. 

 This was due to the accession of un- 

 usually large quantities of snow to the 

 reservoirs of this glacier by avalanches 

 during the 26 days of severe earthquakes 

 of September, 1899. 



The Nunatak was the ninth glacier in 

 the Yakutat Bay region to respond since 

 1899 to this new cause for glacier ad- 

 vances in mountain regions. Their re- 

 sponses have come after a certain delay, 

 dependent in part upon the length of the 

 glacier, as the accompanying table shows. 



Glacier. 



Date of advance. 



Length of 

 glacier. 



Galiano 



After 1895 and 

 before 1905 

 1901 

 1905-6 

 1905-6 

 1905-6 

 1905-6 

 1906 or 7 

 1909 

 1910 



2 or 3 miles. 



3 or 4 miles. 

 6 or 7 miles. 

 8 miles. 



10 miles. 

 10 miles.* 



16 or 17 miles. 



17 or iSmiles. 

 20 miles. 



Unnamed glacier 



Haenke 



Atrevida 



Variegated 



Marvine . . , 



Hidden 



Lucia 



Nunatak 



* Excluding expanded lobe in Malaspiua. 



