Tasman Lake
| Tasman Lake | |
|---|---|
| File:Lake Tasman and Mount Cook 101 5770.jpg | |
| Location | Mount Cook National Park, South Island |
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Type | Proglacial lake |
| Basin countries | New Zealand |
| Max. length | 5.75 km |
| Max. width | 1.60 km |
| Surface area | 6.91 km² (2013) |
| Max. depth | >100 m |
| Surface elevation | 732 m (2013) |
Tasman Lake is a proglacial lake formed by the recent retreat of the Tasman Glacier in New Zealand's South Island.[1]
In the early 1970s, there were several small meltwater ponds on the Tasman Glacier. By 1990, these ponds had merged into Tasman Lake.[2]
Tasman Lake has quickened the retreat of the Tasman Glacier. Initially it did so by undercutting the cliff at the end of the glacier, causing parts of the cliff to fall into the lake. Since 2006, however, a 50–60 m apron of submerged glacial ice projects out from the cliff, and icebergs periodically break off the apron and float away down the lake. Because more of the glacier is now in contact with the water, its rate of retreat has increased. By 2008 the lake was 7 km long, 2 km wide and 245m deep, having almost doubled in area since 2000.[3] It is expected to grow to a maximum length of about 16 km within the next one or two decades.[4]
Tasman Lake, the glacier and the surrounding mountains are part of Mount Cook National Park. Taking a boat tour among the icebergs on the Tasman Lake is now a popular tourist activity.[5]
Like many other geographic places in both New Zealand and Australia, it is named after Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman.
See also
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Hochstein, M.P.; Claridge, D.; Henrys, S.A.; Pyne, A.; Nobes, D.C. and Leary, S.F. (1995). Downwasting of the Tasman Glacier, South Island, New Zealand: changes in the terminus region between 1971 and 1993, New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 38 (1), 1-16.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
- New Zealand Department of Conservation - Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park
