Glacier Photograph Collection - Repeat Photography of Glaciers

"The glacier story is always changing, but it can be caught and preserved with the proper use of a camera." - A. E. Harrison

Overview

Documentation

Special Collections

Repeat Photography of Glaciers

NPS Glacier Survey Reports

DAHLI IGY Photos

Repeat Photography of Glaciers

These repeat photographs (also known as "glacier pairs") are of special interest to scientists studying glaciers and climate. Glacier photographs taken from the same vantage point, but years apart in time, can reveal dramatic changes in the glacier terminus position, as a glacier either advances or retreats. Most glaciers around the world have retreated at unprecedented rates over the last century. These pairs of photographs can provide striking visual evidence of climate change.

To cite photographs taken from the Glacier Photograph Collection, please see "Citing These Data" in the documentation. For more information about the Repeat Photography of Glaciers special collection, see the section on Repeat Photography of Glaciers in the documentation. To contribute repeat photographs to our collection, review the procedures on Submitting Repeat Glacier Photographs.

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To view and download glacier photographs, select one or more of the collections below, then click "Submit" to view a complete list and thumbnails for repeat photographs from selected collection(s).

Collection Information
Collected and contributed by Bruce F. Molnia, U.S. Geological Survey


Muir Glacier, photographed by William O. Field on 13 August 1941 (left) and by Bruce F. Molnia on 31 August 2004 (right). This special collection features 39 pairs of Alaskan glacier photographs. Each photographic pair consists of a late-19th or early-20th century photograph and a 21st century photograph taken from the same location. The comparative photographs clearly show substantial changes in glacier position and size and document significant landscape evolution and vegetative succession.

Collected and contributed by Matt Nolan, University of Alaska-Fairbanks

McCall Glacier, photographed by Austin S. Post in 1958 (left) and by Matt Nolan in 2003 (right). High Resolution Image This special collection contains four pairs of glacier photographs, taken of McCall and Okpilak glaciers in Alaska. Two pairs in this collection provide a panoramic view of the glaciers, which gives a broader perspective of the glaciers.

Collected and contributed by Lonnie G. Thompson, Byrd Polar Research Center, The Ohio State University

Qori Kalis Glacier, photographed by Lonnie G. Thompson (1978 and 2004), Byrd Polar Research Center, The Ohio State University. High Resolution Image This special collection contains a pair of glacier photographs from Peru. This pair shows how the Qori Kalis glacier has changed over time.

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Collection Information