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Advance of the Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2017

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Abstract

Type
Other
Copyright
Copyright © International Glaciological Society 1949

Reports have reached England of an advance of this glacier during 1948 of about 18 m. a week It had been receding for some fifteen years. The surface appeared to be more than usually broken as though the ice were piling up. At the observed rate of advance it is calculated that it would take about two years to reach its 1932 forward limit.

The glacier is some 22 km. long with a mean inclination of about 11 degrees. It must be one of the fastest moving glaciers of temperate regions; a speed as high as 15 m. a day is said to have been measured by Mr. A. Harper in 1894.

The surface of the Fox Glacier is reported to be rising some distance from its end, so that it, too, may be advancing soon. Further reports will be awaited with interest if the advance of New Zealand glaciers becomes general. It is hoped that authoritative information will be forthcoming as that at present available has been obtained from lay sources.