Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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k_fergie wrote: ↑Fri Sep 30, 2022 8:08 am
Then the question becomes what is the difference between permafrost and rock glacier ice? I suppose gradual movement?
Yeah, that was sort of where my mind was going as well - esp. being in Alaska and seeing whole mountain sides ripping off because of melting permafrost. "rocks and gravel mixed with ice" (like ice does with dirt) is a good visual for me on just what's down there.
My guess also is that larger talus is forced up to the surface from that mixture, and that contributes to what we can visually see.
My favorite rock glacier is the one in upper Mohawk Lakes, below Pacific Peak. It has a leading edge that looks to be crumbling away, and I swear you can almost see the ice peeking out midway down the face.
Pacific Rock Glacier.JPG (124.92 KiB) Viewed 879 times
Climbing at altitude is like hitting your head against a brick wall — it's great when you stop. -- Chris Darwin
I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home now. -- Forrest Gump
Climbing at altitude is like hitting your head against a brick wall — it's great when you stop. -- Chris Darwin
I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home now. -- Forrest Gump
He believes it was left over from the last period of glaciation in CO. My jaw dropped when I saw this, up until this point I thought all the glaciers in CO were extinct!
the_hare wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 2:20 pm
Some Mt Antero miners have a video where one of their excavators uncovered some glacial ice up on the NW face of the bump just south of Antero.
He believes it was left over from the last period of glaciation in CO. My jaw dropped when I saw this, up until this point I thought all the glaciers in CO were extinct!
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I'm not a geologist (so this is an open question!) but why would they think it's ice left over from the last glaciation, and not water from last season that seeped into the incredibly porous sand held together by hopes and dreams that makes up that part of Antero and then froze?
justiner wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 2:37 pm
I'm not a geologist (so this is an open question!) but why would they think it's ice left over from the last glaciation, and not water from last season that seeped into the incredibly porous sand held together by hopes and dreams that makes up that part of Antero and then froze?
Glacial ice looks different. The surface of glaciers might look white (or dirty), but actual glacier ice looks blue. The white on the surface of glaciers hasn't been fully compressed yet.
Here's a photo I took of some glacial ice that calved off the face of a glacier.
747206.jpeg (110.38 KiB) Viewed 243 times
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