Observations on a Collapsing Kame Terrace In Glacier Bay National Monument, South-Eastern Alaska

Detailed observations on a collapsing kame terrace indicate that the terrace is being reshaped by: slumping and sliding of debris into depressions, melt-water erosion on the side of the terrace, debris flows in the gullies, and stagnant-ice bursts, a phenomenon analogous to a glacier burst except in the mode of formation of the water. Temperatures in the gravel over the ice, where the gravel is about 4 m thick, indicate that the rate of melting of the upper surface of the ice due to conduction may be as high as 24 cm year−1. Highest temperatures in the gravel were recorded during periods of heavy rainfall.