Abstract

The Bering Glacier in the St.Elias/Chugach Mountains of South-central Alaska is one of the largest surging glaciers. It last surged in 1993 and 1995 with portions of its terminus advancing over 10 km. Since this time the terminus has retreated to near its pre-surge position. While the surge events attract significant attention, there is little known about the quiescent phase and the conditions prior to surging. Measurements made during this period could provide clues to the surge mechanism(s) such as evidence of melt water storage. During the summer of 2003 we made measurements of ice velocity, surface elevation and ice thickness along three transverse transects of the glacier. We reoccupied 19 locations on the glacier with survey grade GPS measurements. Ice velocities were calculated from these measurements and range from over 2 m/day to less than 10 cm/day. Many of the measurements were made at the locations of the USGS 1991 survey providing the opportunity to directly measure ice surface elevation change.