Kenai Fjords National Park--Geology
July 30, 2011
Some people come to Alaska for the abundant wildlife, and some people come for the spectacular scenery. Me, I like to embrace the power of "and" and enjoy both. I am fascinated by geology because it underlies everything else in the environment. The terrain, elevation, and latitude of a part of the earth determine everything that will live and grow there. Rocks may not be alive, but they have powerful effects on living things. Geologically active places like Alaska, Hawai'i, California and the Pacific Northwest are full of interesting and beautiful formations. Kenai Fjords National Park is known for fjords, of course, and fjords are formed by glaciers, amazing features in and of themselves. The geology here was incredible. And, while I love the challenges of wildlife photography, sometimes it's really nice to take a picture of something that will just sit more or less still and pose for you. But a glacier, as we'll see, doesn't quite sit still.
At the beginning and end of the trip, we were out in a wide channel with beautiful expanses of water.
Eric took a picture or some wonderfully eroded rocks. I assume this is water rather than glacial erosion, but I'm not a geologist.
As we traveled into a misty area, these beautifully eroded rocks rose out of fog.
Eric took this picture of a rocky inlet.
As we made our way into the fjord, we approached three beautiful glaciers.
Two of those glaciers a bit closer in.
The rightmost glacier close up. You can see the ice running right into the water.
The Anchor Glacier (the center of the three) and its reflection.
Here, you can see why the Anchor Glacier has its name.
The Anchor Glacier with a smaller boat, the
Misty.
The Anchor Glacier and a small island.
As we made our way deeper into the Northwestern Fjord, the scenery became more and more spectacular.
Our destination, the Northwestern Glacier, came into view as Captain Bob carefully charted a course through the ice.
Eric's view of the Northwestern Glacier.
Yet closer in to the Northwestern Glacier.
Ice was all around us in the water.
As Captain Bob brought us in close to the glacier, we began to hear sounds like thunder.
We saw a piece of ice fall off of the glacier, a process known as "calving."
The chunk of ice falling further toward the water.
A larger chunk of ice calving.
As the glacial calve hits the water, it makes a big splash. The thunderous sound of the splash would echo through the fjord and reach us a moment later.
A large piece of ice slid down from a smaller glacier to our port side. Mike told us that it was about the size of a three- or four-story building.
The piece of ice disintegrated as it made its way down the rock slope.
The same ice falling all the way down into the water.
Liquid water was also running out of the glaciers.
Mike took our picture together in front of the glacier.
While it seemed that we were practically at the tip of the glacier, we can't have been too close, because the size of such an enormous object distorts your visual perspective. But while I had been afraid that a larger boat like the Explorer would not go in very close, we were definitely close enough for a satisfyingly dramatic experience.
The tiny
Misty did not get any closer than we did.
Mike told us that, while Northwestern is indeed a retreating glacier (most glaciers in Alaska and around the world are retreating during our warming period), even advancing glaciers will calve. Glaciers are always melting on the surface.
Captain Bob gave us a good long time to gawk at the glacier and observe the calving. The enormous glacier had an awesome, metaphoric presence. The sheer size of a such piece of ice, and the tremendous sound of its calves, were quite powerfully dramatic.
At last, Captain Bob turned the
Explorer around and picked a path back out through the ice.
Mike cheerfully explained that the entire area around us was under the glacier as recently as the 1950's. He pointed out that the areas closer in to the present position of the glacier had been uncovered more recently than the areas further out. As we made our way out of the fjord, we would see a succession of different plants along the rocks on the edge of the fjord.
First, we saw the pioneering mosses.
Further out, some thicker brushes succeeded the mosses.
Finally, we came to a spruce forest.
Mike told us that all the rocks around us were volcanic. These ridges of volcanic spines are fairly obvious.
Next, Captain Bob brought us to a wondrous place: a rock wall teeming with waterfalls.
The water just poured out of the rock as it does in Hawai'i.
Captain Bob brought us in dramatically close.
It was a wondrous and deeply satisfying experience to see such beauty.
Mike took our picture in this amazing place.
As we went further out into the main channel, Captain Bob told us that we were passing over some large rocks underwater. He put a sonar map of the underwater environment on display for us. These rocks seemed to occur in a line like volcanic spines, but I can't be sure exactly what they were.
Our wake on the return trip, with the glaciers in the background.
On to the many special and unusual birds we saw.