What is happening to the Mendenhall Glacier in terms of mass balance and terminus activity?
Long-term studies of the accumulation and loss of ice from glaciers, also known as mass balance, have been rather limited owing to the logistical difficulties associated with working in such challenging environments. Researchers have been conducting mass balance studies on the Mendenhall Glacier since the early 1990s in an effort to understand how short and long term behaviors of the glacier are influenced by climate and topography. These studies are being continued by the SEAMONSTER project. Early in May of 2007, seven sites along the Mendenhall were selected as locations to monitor glacial accumulation and ablation. Ablation is a word used by glaciologists to mean the loss of ice through both sublimation—the conversion of solid ice directly into vapor—and melt. The seven sites were selected based on their elevations above sea level and at each site a hole was drilled into the ice and a long weighted wire was fed into the hole. With the weighted wire resting on the bottom of each hole
