Bering Glacier is a glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska. It currently terminates in Vitus Lake south of Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, about 10 km (6.2 mi) from the Gulf of Alaska. Combined with the Bagley Icefield, where the snow that feeds the glacier accumulates, the Bering is the largest glacier in North America. The glacier is named after Vitus Bering.
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In this Dossier
Bering Glacier in the context of Vitus Bering
Vitus Jonassen Bering (/ˈbɛərɪŋ, ˈbɛrɪŋ/ BAIR-ing, BERR-ing, US also /ˈbɪərɪŋ/ BEER-ing, Danish: [ˈviːtsʰus ˈjoːnæsn̩ ˈpe̝(ː)ɐ̯e̝ŋ]; baptised 5 August 1681 – 19 December 1741), also known as Ivan Ivanovich Bering (Russian: Иван Иванович Беринг), was a Danish-born Russian cartographer, explorer, and officer in the Russian Navy. He is known as a leader of two Russian expeditions, the First Kamchatka Expedition and the Great Northern Expedition, exploring the northeastern coast of the Asian continent and from there the western coast of the North American continent. The Bering Strait, the Bering Sea, Bering Island, the Bering Glacier, and Vitus Lake were all named in his honor.
Taking to the seas as a ship's boy at age 15, Bering traveled extensively over the next eight years, as well as taking naval training in Amsterdam. In 1704, he enrolled with the rapidly expanding navy of Tsar Peter I. After serving with the navy in significant but non-combat roles during the Great Northern War, Bering resigned in 1724 to avoid the continuing embarrassment of his low rank to his wife, and upon retirement was promoted to first captain. Bering was permitted to keep the rank when he rejoined the Russian Navy later that year.
Bering Glacier in the context of Supraglacial lake
A supraglacial lake is any pond of liquid water on the top of a glacier. Although these pools are ephemeral, they may reach kilometers in diameter and be several meters deep. They may last for months or even decades at a time, but can empty in the course of hours.
Bering Glacier in the context of Gulf of Alaska
The Gulf of Alaska (Tlingit: Yéil T'ooch’) is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from Kabuch Point in the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Cape Spencer in the east, where Glacier Bay is found and start the Inside Passage (Coastal Waters of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia).
The Gulf shoreline is a combination of forest, mountain and a number of tidewater glaciers. Alaska's largest glaciers, the Malaspina Glacier and Bering Glacier, spill out onto the coastal line along the Gulf of Alaska. The coast is heavily indented with Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound, the two largest connected bodies of water. It includes Yakutat Bay. Lituya Bay (a fjord north of Cross Sound, and south of Mount Fairweather) is the site of the largest recorded tsunami in history. It serves as a sheltered anchorage for fishing boats.