Sciences and Exploration Directorate (600) Featured Image
Columbia Glacier, Alaska
The Columbia Glacier descends from an ice field 3,050 meters (10,000 feet) above sea level, down the flanks of the Chugach Mountains, and into a narrow inlet that leads into Prince William Sound in southeastern Alaska. It is one of the most rapidly changing glaciers in the world.
The Columbia is a large tidewater glacier, flowing directly into the sea. When British explorers first surveyed it in 1794, its nose—or terminus—extended south to the northern edge of Heather Island, a small island near the mouth of Columbia Bay. The glacier held that position until 1980, when it began a rapid retreat that continues today.
These false-color images, captured by Landsat satellites, show how the glacier and the surrounding landscape has changed since 1986. The images were collected by similar sensors—the Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+)—on three different Landsat satellites (4, 5, and 7).
Image Source: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/columbia_glacier.php?src=features-hp
