Grasshopper Glacier (Wyoming)

Infobox_Glacier | glacier_name = Grasshopper Glacier (Wyoming)


caption =
type = Mountain glacier
location = Wyoming, United States
coordinates = coord|43|14|19|N|109|39|40|W|type:glacier_region:US-WY
area =
length = 1.5 mile (2.4 km)
thickness =
terminus = outflow stream
status = retreating

Grasshopper Glacier (Wyoming) is located in Shoshone National Forest, in the U.S. state of Wyoming on the east of the Continental Divide in the Wind River Range. [cite web| first=| last=|title =Grasshopper Glacier, USGS Gannett Peak (WY) Topo Map| work =USGS Quad maps|publisher =TopoQuest| date =| url =http://www.topoquest.com/map.php?lat=43.24228&lon=-109.66212&datum=nad83&zoom=8| format =Map| accessdate = 2008-05-17] Grasshopper Glacier is in the Fitzpatrick Wilderness, and is part of the largest grouping of glaciers in the American Rocky Mountains. The glacier flows north, and glacial runoff supplies water to Grasshopper Creek, flowing eventually into the Wind River. The glacier shares a glacial margin with Klondike Glacier, located to the south. The glacier is named for grasshoppers that have been found entombed in the ice.cite news | last =Thuermer| first =Angus | coauthors =| title =The day the Grasshopper burped| work =| pages =| language =| publisher =Jackson Hole News and Guide| date =2004| url =http://www.jhnews.com/Archives/Environmental/031105-enviro.html| accessdate = 2007-10-31]

Between September 6 to September 10, 2003, a Glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) was recorded when the proglacial lake at the head of the glacier burst through a glacial dam, and water from the lake carved a trench down the center of the glacier for over a half mile (.8 km). An estimated 650 million gallons of water were released in four days, raising the flow level of Dinwoody Creek from from 200 ft³ per second to 900 ft³ per second, as recorded at a gauging station 17 miles (27 km) downstream. Debris from the flood was deposited more than 20 miles 32 km. The GLOF has been attributed to the rapid retreat of the glacier, which has been ongoing since the glacier was first accurately measured in the 1960's.

Cited references

ee also

* List of glaciers