Watkins Glacier

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Watkins Glacier
Location in California
Location in California
Watkins Glacier
Location in California
Type Mountain glacier
Location Siskiyou County, California, United States
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[1]
Area .04 sq mi (0.10 km2)
Length .2 mi (0.32 km)
Terminus Moraine
Status Expanding

The Watkins Glacier is a glacier situated on the southeastern flank of Mount Shasta, in the U.S. state of California. It occupies a small cirque in the Clear Creek drainage. It is the smallest officially-named glacier on Mount Shasta, and it was not accorded that status until 1976, following a decades-long campaign by local resident R. Harry Watkins, Jr., to bring recognition to the previously-ignored glacier.[2]

The Watkins is one of three small cirque glaciers on the southern side of Shasta, along with the Konwakiton and Mud Creek Glaciers located about 1 mi (1.6 km) west. It has the lowest average elevation of any of Shasta's glaciers, extending only between 10,400 and 11,000 ft (3,200 and 3,400 m).[3]

In 2002, scientists made the first detailed survey of Mount Shasta's glaciers in 50 years. They found that seven of the glaciers (including the Watkins) have grown over the period 1951-2002, with the Hotlum and Wintun Glaciers nearly doubling, the Bolam Glacier increasing by half, and the Whitney and Konwakiton Glaciers growing by a third.[4][5][6]

See also

References

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  3. Google Earth elevation for GNIS coordinates
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