Interstadial stump

Where once a glacier stood. When the ice advanced in the last major

ice-age,10,000 years ago, this region, towards the upper end of what is now

Glacier Bay in south east Alaska, was fully forested with mature trees and

associated flora and fauna. What you can find now in upper Glacier Bay is

the occasional tree stump, called 'interstadial' stumps, where the advancing

or retreating glacier - it's impossible to tell which - has ripped the tree off half

way up the trunk, but it's been strong enough to withstand a lot of the

pressure and has remained as a dead residue of what once stood here.

This picture was taken in 1977 on our London University expedition, and

since then, with the glacier here having retreated even further, the land is

now becoming fully forested again. Salmon have returned to the melt-water

stream you see here, and this stump will once again be part of a mature

forest scene.

Where once a glacier stood. When the ice advanced in the last major ice-age,10,000

years ago, this region, towards the upper end of what is now Glacier Bay in south

east Alaska, was fully forested with mature trees and associated flora and fauna.

What you can find now in upper Glacier Bay is the occasional tree stump, called

'interstadial' stumps, where the advancing or retreating glacier - it's impossible to tell

which - has ripped the tree off half way up the trunk, but it's been strong enough to

withstand a lot of the pressure and has remained as a dead residue of what once

stood here. This picture was taken in 1977 on our London University expedition, and

since then, with the glacier here having retreated even further, the land is now

becoming fully forested again. Salmon have returned to the melt-water stream you

see here, and this stump will once again be part of a mature forest scene.