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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