National Geographic : 1910 Jan
THE GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY'S ALASKAN EXPEDITION MORAINE-COVERED FORESTED EASTERN MARGIN OF THE MARVINE LOBE OF MALASPINA GLACIER The ice, recently thrust forward, has protruded through the soil; the trees are tilted at various angles and overturned; and the underlying ice, exposed to air and rain, is rapidly melting. Streams of water and of liquid mud descend the slope. fact not all the larger glaciers, can be given careful study for years to come; for not only are there hundreds of such glaciers, many of which are still un named, but large numbers of them are so inaccessible that they can be studied only by special expeditions, expensive from the standpoint both as to time and of money. While ultimately it is to be hoped and expected that all of these glaciers will be studied and mapped, the present needs can be met by a study of a few selected areas in which it is to be expected that the principal phenomena of Alaskan gla ciation will be exhibited, and from which facts can be observed which will solve some of the larger problems and furnish basis for future study which will solve others. In selecting these areas first considera tion should be given to the scientific promise; second, to the variety -of phe nomena, and third, to the expenditure of time and money. From the latter stand point accessibility is the key. Alaska is being rapidly opened up by road and railway building and river navigation, and what is today quite inaccessible, may in a few years be easy of access; there fore it seems hardly wise, in view of the broad field of opportunity, to expend large amounts of time and money in a study of what a few years hence may be reached with ease in far less time and at a far less expense.