map depicting the extent of the Bering Glacier Warmer temperatures and changes in precipitation over the past century have thinned the Bering Glacier by several thousand meters. Since 1900 the
terminus has retreated as much as . The Bering Glacier exhibits "surges", acceleration events of the flow rate of the glacier, every 20 years or so. During these periods the glacier terminus advances. The surges are generally followed by periods of retreat, so despite the periodic advances the glacier has been shrinking overall. Most glaciers along the Alaskan coast have been retreating along with the Bering Glacier. The glacial retreat has an interesting side effect, an increase in the frequency of earthquakes in the region. The
Wrangell and
Saint Elias mountain ranges that spawn the Bering Glacier were created by the collision of the
Pacific and
North American tectonic plates (the Pacific Plate is being subducted underneath the North American Plate). The weight of the vast amount of ice in the Bering Glacier is enough to depress the Earth's crust, stabilizing the boundary between the two plates. As the glaciers lose mass, the pressure of the ice is diminished. This reduced compression allows the rocks along faults to move more freely, resulting in more earthquakes. Scientists from the
Michigan Tech Research Institute, working with
U.S. Geological Survey and
U.S. Bureau of Land Management, have recently discovered that the glacier is releasing approximately of water a year, more than twice the amount of water in the entire
Colorado River. Meltwater at the terminus collects in Vitus Lake, which flows via the
Seal River to the Gulf of Alaska. ==See also==