Matawhata??? EarthCache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(not chosen)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Matanuska Glacier is 27 miles long, accessible by car & is only a two-hour drive from Anchorage on the Glenn Highway.
An unusual feature of the glacier is the presence of a weather hole, making the weather unusually clear and sunny. Also, it is the largest glacier accessible by car in Alaska.
I found it more interesting that this is one of the few glaciers that a person can see above the actual glacier without the use of aircraft.
While grinding down a valley, a glacier collects mountains of material, piece by piece. Where does it all go? The glacier carries the debris downhill like a giant conveyer belt. When this debris reaches the ice’s edge, it is deposited as a moraine.
Lateral moraines
Lateral moraines are parallel ridges of debris deposited along the sides of a glacier. The unconsolidated debris is deposited on top of the glacier by frost shattering of the valley walls and from tributary streams flowing into the valley. The till is carried along the glacial margin until the glacier melts. Because lateral moraines are deposited on top of the glacier, they do not experience the postglacial erosion of the valley floor and therefore, as the glacier melts, lateral moraines are usually preserved as high ridges.
Ground moraines
Ground moraines are till covered areas with irregular topography and no ridges, often forming gently rolling hills or plains. It is accumulated under the ice by lodgement, but may also be deposited as the glacier retreats. In alpine glaciers ground moraine is located between the two lateral moraines. Ground moraine may be formed into drumlins by the overriding ice.
Rogen moraines
Rogen moraines or Ribbed moraines are a type of basal moraines that forms a series of ribs perpendicular to the ice flow in an ice sheet. The depressions between the ribbs are sometimes filled with water making the Rogen moraines look like tigerstripes on aerial photographs. Rogen moraines are named after Lake Rogen[1] in Härjedalen, Sweden, the landform’s type locality.
End or terminal moraines
End moraines or terminal moraines are ridges of unconsolidated debris deposited at the snout or end of the glacier. They usually reflect the shape of the glacier's terminus. Glaciers act much like a conveyor belt carrying debris from the top of the glacier to the bottom where it deposits it in end moraines. End moraine size and shape is determined by whether the glacier is advancing, receding or at equilibrium. The longer the terminus of the glacier stays in one place the more accumulation there will be. There are two types of end moraines, terminal and recession moraines. Terminal moraines mark the maximum advance of the glacier. Recessional moraines are small ridges left as a glacier pauses during its retreat. After a glacier retreats the end moraine may be destroyed by postglacial erosion.
Recessional moraine
A recessional moraine is in the form of a series of ridges running across a valley behind terminal moraine. They form during standstills in a glacier's retreat.[citation needed]
Medial moraine
A medial moraine is a ridge of moraine that runs down the center of a valley floor. It is formed when two glaciers meet and the debris on the edges of the adjacent valley sides join and is carried on top of the enlarged glacier. As the glacier melts or retreats, the debris is deposited and a ridge down the middle of the valley floor is created. The Kaskawulsh glacier in the Kluane National Park, Canada has a ridge of medial moraine 1 km wide.
Supraglacial moraines
Supraglacial moraines are created by debris accumulated above the glacial ice. This may occur by upwelling of debris inside the ice trough internal slide plains, melting of the uppermost layers or directly by material that falls into the glaciers.
At the given coordinates the finder must email the owner with answers to the following questions. A photo can no longer be a requirement, but one would be appreciated with the glacier in the background.
Questions….
1. What is the altitude of the upper basin of Matanuska Glacier and what is the mountain it is below?
2. What are two glaciers and their location in the world which are not visible?
3. What type of Moraine might you be standing on?
This can be easily accessed by those who are in a wheelchair.
FTF honors go to llenseuqm...CONGRATS
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)