A fjord is an underwater valley carved by glaciers. Generally narrow, with steep-sided mountains on either side, these U- and V-shaped valleys were carved by ancient rivers of ice, which have since disappeared.
College Fjord contains five tidewater glaciers (glaciers that terminate in water), five large valley glaciers, dozens of smaller glaciers, and many "hanging" glaciers.
College Fjord is a relatively new discovery. Here are the highlights of its history:
The Harriman Expedition set out in the spring of 1899, travelling from Seattle, through BC, Alaska and Siberia, on a 2-month voyage.
The team consisted of 32 American scientists, as well as many esteemed artists and photographers.
John Muir was one of those that sailed on this voyage. He, alone, is considered to be the "Father of National Parks in the United States", and there is currently a glacier in Glacier Bay named after him.
The Harriman Expedition named the glaciers after East Coast colleges. As you travel up College Fjord, you will note that those on the port side (left side) are named after women's colleges, while those on the starboard (right side) are named after men's colleges.
The 2 glaciers at the end of College Fjord are named after Harvard and Yale colleges, which represent the largest glaciers in the fjord. Fun Note: Harvard Glacier is still advancing today (unlike most glaciers that are retreating), making College Fjord one of the rare places where tidewater glaciers are stable or growing.
The named hanging glaciers in College Fjord are Holyoke, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Smith, Vassar, and Wellesley Glaciers.
Because glaciers advance and retreat, the movement of all the different types of glaciers helped to carve out the fjord over time. If more snow and ice are added than are lost through melting, calving, or evaporation, glaciers will advance. If less snow and ice are added than are lost, glaciers will retreat.
Glacier ice forms in a completely different way than ice cubes in your freezer. As snow piles up in a cold, sheltered area, it compresses the snow beneath, turning it into glacier ice, and as the snow and glacier ice continue to pile up, the lower layers get squeezed and pushed downslope.
Blue ice occurs when snow falls on a glacier, over time becoming compressed. During compression, air bubbles are squeezed out, so the ice crystals enlarge. The ice absorbs all light colours of the spectrum except blue light. This phenomenon can also be observed on cloudy days by poking holes in fresh snow with a ski pole. The crystal enlargement is responsible for the ice's blue colour.
The glaciers in College Fjord advanced down the valley hundreds of years ago and then retreated, leaving behind what we see today. So, as we look at the various glaciers, we can see those that are retreating, and the moraine left behind in the process.
In order to log this earthcache, email/message the cache owner with the answers to the following questions:
1) Is either of the 2 largest glaciers retreating or advancing? If so, which ones?
2) What principle of physics causes the movement of glacier ice?
3) Please state which ship you were on and the current weather conditions, as well as if you are sending in a "Group Log", naming all those in your group.
4) What prestigious college was left out of the naming of the glaciers in College Fjord?
5) Blue ice occurs as a result of what process?
6) A: Describe what moraine is, and where it is visible on these glaciers. You should focus on just one or two major glaciers and tell me about the moraine formation. For example, is the moraine receding or growing, and its colour. Is there ice calving?
B: Try to figure out the gender of the glacier name (is it on the left or right side).
7) Include the depth of the water at or close to the coordinates. There should be a depth indicator somewhere on the ship, maybe even on your room TV. Also, the Front Desk can tell you where to look for the information. Note: fjords can be as deep as 5000 ft. (although this one is not).
Your log shall also contain a photo of a glacier in the background, with either you in the photo or something with your Geocaching name on it.
Resources:
The Harriman Expedition: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/botany/about/historical-expeditions/harriman-expedition
College Fjord: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Fjord
John Muir: https://www.nps.gov/jomu/index.htm
How Glaciers move: https://www.rgs.org/schools/resources-for-schools/glaciation-and-geological-timescales/not-an-ice-cube-how-glaciers-work