Glaciers

Glaciers are one of the main sources for streams and hydroelectric power for many surrounding areas, this is why it is extremely important to constantly monitor Mount Rainier’s glaciers and how rapidly they are melting and shrinking. Depending on the location of the supplying glacier and the temperature, the streams can be anywhere from rapid or easily crossed on foot. It is also common to see streams that are a white, milky color; this color is attributed to grains of rock flour that has beencreated from the moving glaciers. The picture below shows the milky-white river water color of the North Fork Nooksack River, whose color was caused by the melting and moving glaciers. (Harris, Tuttle, and Tuttle 518)

 

North Fork Nooksack River
(McShane)

Melting glaciers can also be seen forming ice caves, waterfalls tributary streams and lakes. The following pictures are examples of ice caves and waterfalls that can be seen at Mount Rainier National Park. 

Waterfall created from glaciers at Mount Rainier National Park
(Augustin)

Paradise Glacier Ice Cave
(Harris, Tuttle, and Tuttle 520)

Mount Rainier is home to many Valley Trains, which are “made up of outwash deposited by meltwater streams, cover the floors of the narrow valley that descend from the ends of the glaciers” (Harris, Tuttle, and Tuttle 518). You can see many of these valley trains on Mount Rainier, however they are constantly changing due to the mountains mudflows and ash falls. The following images is an example of a valley train and stream that lies below the Nisqually River on Mount Rainier. 

Valley Train and stream below Nisqually River
(Sherman)

Information and pictures from this post are credited to the following sources:

Harris, Ann G., Esther Tuttle, and Sherwood D. Tuttle.Geology of National Parks. sixth ed. . Dubuque,Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 2004. 518-20. Print.

McShane, Dan. "Glacial Milk in Western Washington Rivers." Washington Landscape. blogspot.com, 14 Aug 2011. Web. 19 Feb 2012. 


Sherman, Doug. "Alpine Glaciation." PBase. PBase LLC, n.d. Web. 19 Feb 2012. <http://www.pbase.com/dougsherman/image/93200947>.


Augustin, Haley. "Mount Rainier Waterfall HDR."AugustinH. deviantART, 01 Aug 2010. Web. 19 Feb 2012. <http://augustinh.deviantart.com/art/Mount-Rainier-Waterfall-HDR-173548394>.