Hubbard Glacier -The largest, and one of the most spectacular glaciers in North America

Описание: The largest tidal glacier in North America, Hubbard Glacier is a rarity; an icy abyss, formed over centuries, where nature, not man, is King.

This phenomenal natural wonder is a sight to behold; a gargantuan glacier of ice, 76 miles long and over 2000 feet deep in parts.

It is the largest tidewater glacier in North America and yet just 350 feet of its mass is visible above water. The bulk remains hidden beneath the surface, faced with a 400-year wait to breach the tideline; the exact length of time it takes for the ice to traverse the glacier’s body and meet air for the first time.

Hubbard Glacier is named after Gardiner Hubbard, the first President of The National Geographical Society, a tribute awarded in 1890. It straddles the US and Canadian borders in Southeast Alaska and is one of the few glaciers advancing rather than retreating, gaining an average of 80 feet each year at its current rate of growth.

While all glaciers retreat and expand in response to climate conditions, Hubbard Glacier’s rate of advancement is exceptional by contrast, not least because it advances during warmer climates, when glaciers typically retreat.

Its unique glacial cycle is prompted by excess precipitation cooling when it meets the St. Elias Mountains, turning the moisture into snow which subsequently feeds the glacier. Such is its force, that in 1986 and 2002, Hubbard Glacier blocked the entrance to Russell Fiord for several weeks until ice calving reopened the channel.

While the advancement is so slow it’s impossible to see with the naked eye, you may yet witness a piece of the glacier breaking off to form a new iceberg; a magical reminder that this feat of nature is still very much a work in progress.