This cyclic behaviour is well illustrated by a postage stamp issued in 1946, depicting the view from St James Anglican Church. There were several periods of advance in the 20th century – 1946 to 1951 (340 m), 1965 to 1967 (400 m), 1983 to 1999 (1420 m) and 2004 to 2008 (280 m) – but all were followed by periods of greater retreat. Historic variations of the terminus position of the Franz Josef Glacier and associated events. Between its first official mapping in 1893 and a century later in 1983, Franz Josef Glacier retreated 3 km up the valley. When Haast became the first European to see the glacier it was still much longer than today, and the ice surface was 300 m higher. The same viewpoint in 2016įranz Josef Glacier advanced rapidly during the Little Ice Age, reaching a maximum in the early 18th century. Increased snowfall takes around 5–6 years to result in changes in the terminus location. If the increased precipitation falls as snow, the glacier will advance if as rain, it will retreat. However, in the Southern Alps warmer temperatures cause increased precipitation on the western face of the Main Divide, and Franz Josef glacier being short and steep is more sensitive to increased snow in the névé than other glaciers. Most of New Zealand's large glaciers shrank significantly towards the end of the 20th century, a consequence of global warming. Over the past 14,000 years glaciers worldwide have generally retreated. Advance and retreat The glacier from the valley floor in 2001įranz Josef Glacier exhibits a cyclic pattern of advance and retreat, driven by differences between the volume of meltwater at the foot of the glacier and volume of snowfall feeding the névé. An arc of rubble 80 m high, it was too rugged to be cleared for farming, and remains covered in native forest. The Waiho Loop 4 km north of the settlement of Franz Josef is the terminal moraine of Franz Josef Glacier, deposited by the retreating glacier about 12,000–3,000 years ago. Lake Wombat is a kettle lake created by ice left in a moraine 9000 years ago, while Peters Pool close to the glacier's face arose in the same fashion just 210 years ago. As it retreated the glacier left behind moraines of accumulated rock and chunks of ice which created coastal hills and lakes. Near the end of the last ice age about 18,000 years ago it extended to the present-day coastline or even beyond. įranz Josef Glacier currently terminates 19 km (12 mi) from the Tasman Sea. This combination of factors leads to Franz Josef persisting where most temperate-zone glaciers would have already melted, and allows it to share a valley with temperate rain forest. This wide névé, which is over 300 metres (980 ft) deep, feeds large amounts of compacted snow into a steep and narrow valley which drops quickly to very low altitudes: the glacier descends to 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level in just 11 km (6.8 mi). The névé or snowfield at the head of Franz Josef Glacier is over 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) above sea level and 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq mi) in area. Geography An aerial view down the glacier. The glacier was later named after Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria by the German geologist Julius von Haast in 1865.įollowing the passage of the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998, the name of the glacier was officially altered to Franz Josef Glacier / Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere. The first European description of one of the West Coast glaciers (believed to be Franz Josef) was made in the log of the ship Mary Louisa in 1859. Rangi the Sky Father took pity on her and froze them to form the glacier. Hine Hukatere was broken-hearted and her many, many tears flowed down the mountain. Tuawe was a less experienced climber than Hine Hukatere but loved to accompany her, until an avalanche swept him from the peaks to his death. According to oral tradition, Hine Hukatere loved climbing in the mountains and persuaded her lover Tuawe to climb with her. The Māori name for the glacier is Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere, literally: 'The tears of Hine Hukatere'. The Waiho River emerges from the glacier terminal of Franz Josef. The area surrounding the two glaciers is part of Te Wahipounamu, a World Heritage Site park. Together with the Fox Glacier 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the south, and a third glacier, it descends from the Southern Alps to less than 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level. The Franz Josef Glacier ( Māori: Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere officially Franz Josef Glacier / Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere) is a 12-kilometre-long (7.5 mi) temperate maritime glacier in Westland Tai Poutini National Park on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.
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