Timelapse of the Leconte Glacier during the summer

Timelapse of the Leconte Glacier during the summer Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Oregon is a timelapse of images that show the LeConte Glacier rapidly flowing from March 31 to August 8, 2016.

As the summer progresses, the glacier is moving from right to left, while the ice front is retreating backwards. 

A team of scientists led by oceanographer Dave Sutherland used a new method to analyze the behavior of the glacier.

The study revealed that underwater melting is occurring at a faster rate than what has been accounted for in current models.  As seen above the Timelapse of the Leconte Glacier during the summer shows the flowing of the ice and glaciers streaming through the terrain and surrounding areas. Also this spectacular glacier is North America’s southern-most tidewater glacier and is part of a massive glacial system that stretches 120 miles through the southern most part of LeConte Bay. The glacier is extremely active, producing a massive amount of icebergs. The snowcapped mountains surround the area as well as multiple waterfalls in the area and surrounding glaciers.

“We measured both the ocean properties in front of the glacier and the melt rates, and we found that they are not related in the way we expected,” said study co-author Rebecca H. Jackson. “These two sets of measurements show that melt rates are significantly, sometimes up to a factor of 100, higher than existing theory would predict.”

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Video Credit: Jason Amundson, University of Alaska Southeast