![]() Below that, the ice is more solid and the pressure greater, creating a more intense blue color. The upper 100 feet of a glaciers depth is brittle and deep cracks called crevasses form on the surface. Towards the terminus of the glacier more ice is lost than accumulates so the glacier forms great folds and deep cracks, like rapids in a river. Glaciers follow the path of least resistance, occupying stream valleys. As layers of ice accumulate at the top of a mountain, the pressure increases and they start to move downhill. Glacial ice appears blue due to the physical characteristics of water molecules which absorb all colors except blue which is reflected. These crystals meld with others to form dense glacial ice, one layer for each year. Snowflakes are transformed to granular ice crystals in the summer months. Simply put, glaciers occur when snow accumulation is greater than the melt. Just as you hear a huge crack, like the sound of cannon fire echoing through the fjord, a spire of ice falls into the water sending a splash 200 feet into the air. We wait patiently for a house-size chunk to break from the face. Imagine a beautiful, blue-sky morning floating amongst ice bergs at the face of a mile-wide glacier in Tracy Arm Fjord. Alaska Sea Adventures is one of very few if not the only option to visit here in winter. A winter visit to South Sawyer Glacier in Tracy arm provides an incredible contrast from that encountered with during a summer visit. ![]()
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February 2023
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