Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

The first time I saw a glacier, I was in Alaska.  I have seen many since then; I’ve even hiked them.  No matter how many times I see these giant rivers of ice, my reaction is always the same as it was when I was on a heli-hiking trip:

When I am surrounded by immense natural formations and the changes wrought over  millions of years,  I feel overwhelmed.  Awed.  Small.  Even reverential.  That never seems to change. 

Here in New Zealand, we take a short walk that quickly becomes steep as we make our way up to a viewing area so we can appreciate the Franz Josef Glacier.  

into the woods

German explorer  Julius von Haast named the glacier for Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria in 1865.  The Maori name is Ka Roimata o  Hinehukatere ('The Tears of Hinehukatere').  According to Maori legend, Hinehukatere loved the mountains of her homeland, and was a skilled climber.  Her lover, Wawe, wanted to please and impress her.  He tried to join her in scaling the mountains.  However, Wawe wasn't as athletic as his love, and in his climb, he fell to his death.  The devatastated Hinehukatere cried so many tears, they formed the glacier we see before us.

Franz Josef Glacier

Glaciers are not smooth ice.   Cracks and crevasses expose the debris that the glacier has picked up in its travels, as well as the hints of blue that is unique to glacial ice. 

The glaciers form when the snows of a winter do not melt away completely.  Year after year, the snow pack increases in height and density, compressing the layers below.  The pressure has several effects.  It leads the lowest level of ice to melt--that melting and the incline of the mountain allow the glacier to become a giant moving river of ice.

The ice develops cracks and crevices as it descends the uneven mountain terrain.  (Little crevices do big crevasses become.)  Gary uses his camera zoom to get a better view of the area in the lower right corner of the picture above.  Below you can see how deep some of the crevasses are.  You can also see some ‘glacial blue’ in the crevasses.

The blue is a result of the ice weight and compression.  Ice contains air bubbles, and as the snows pile on top of the ice over years,  the bubbles condense and are forced out of the lower layers.   The dissipation of the air bubbles leaves a layer of ice---very old ice--that absorbs other colors of the spectrum like red and yellow, leaving the ice to reflect more of the blue light.  

A little more zoom and you can make out a tiny column of hikers on their way up the glacier  (just to the right of the photo center).  They're not really tiny...

The hikers in the picture above (to right of center) give you an idea of the size of the glacier and the crevasses.

Since we visited New Zealand, the Franz Josef glacier has retreated over 500 meters  (about a third of a mile), so the photos above don’t quite represent the glacier today.  I think Hinehukatere might be as saddened by the glacier’s retreat as she was by the loss of her love on the mountains.

For additional information check:

http://www.franzjosefglacier.com/  and 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10818264