help!! 9 yr old's glacier project

[becauseisaid]

We just got back from an amazing cruise through the inside passage...

 

Our 9 yr old daughter has to do a project on glacier "mud" for her summer project. She is stuck on some questions-we thought that maybe some of the Alaska experts on this message board can help!!!!

 

We did the helicoptor flight/glacier landing/hike through northstar-absolutely amazing. It felt like we were walking on top of the world.

 

While we were up there she studied the mud.

 

1. It has a HORRIBLE odor-If we did not know better we would have thought that a bear went to the bathroom there!!!!! Can anyone explain the horrible odor??

 

2. What is the proper name for the mud?

 

3. can anything grow in it?

 

4. a good website to do research on it?? We have tried to find one, but I am not great at using the computer.

[Yukon]

Now I'm intrigued - I've walked on a lot of glacial silt (the correct term is loess) from several glaciers and formerly glaciated sites, but have never smelled anything. But nothing will grow on glacial silt for decades after it's deposited (at least in Alaska/Yukon) - it's just ground-up rock with none of the organics that plants need to survive.

 

Murray

[becauseisaid]

Could it be a sulfur smell like in yellowstone park glaciers?? The mud baths in Israel by the dead sea have that horrible sufur smell also.

 

Although I have to tell you that when we opened up the container with the sample today, it smelled just like poop!!!:eek: My eyes were also stinging a bit.

[wolfie11]

And just how far away from the mushing camps did your pilot land you?

 

If you just picked up some mud off the top of the glacier, it is unlikely to be glacial in origin unless it was taken from the side of the glacier or at the face where the water carries it out of the glacier. It is called glacial silt. If it is on the glacier, it is part of the moraine. There is a process called plant succession that takes place over time on glacial moraines. I believe there is a good explanation on the Kenai Fjords web site http://www.nps.gov/akso/ParkWise/Teachers/Nature/KEFJ_Glaciers/outline.htm. You could also try the Glacier Bay web site.

[becauseisaid]

I am not sure how to describe where the helicopter landed-we started at an airport. We were kind of close to the side where the rocks meet the glacier and I did not get the impression that dog sleds could get up that high. I do know that it was windy, cold and it started to rain when we got up there!! But that added to the fun.

 

The guides did say that it was something like ground up granite from the rocks on the mountains that were right by us. They made a joke that people spend a lot of money in spas on mud like this. It is really dark black in color. So I am hoping that it is not something else!!:rolleyes: My daughter is starting to call it polar bear poop...

[tee_harbor]

Was this Mendenhall Glacier?

 

It is really dark black in color. So I am hoping that it is not something else!!:rolleyes: My daughter is starting to call it polar bear poop...

 

I was going to suggest...maybe...it's bear scat! I swear I've seen somewhere that bears occasionally cross Mendenhall Glacier. There's food on both sides, and it would be the shortest route.

 

I assume you'd know the smell of 'dog dirt' and everything about a bear STINKS! And it's very dark, almost black. Google image for bear scat and you'll see what I mean. The pile can be rather ploppish, like a cow patty, particularly if it's been rained on. Is there anything...in there? Like seeds, or hair/bone? There doesn't have to be, but that would be conclusive evidence.

 

The only 'glacier mud' I've encountered was out at Eagle Glacier. I hiked in and almost got stuck in the quicksand like mud in the riverbed leading to the ice. It was very thick, but had the sticky texture of pottery clay--if you grip it, it keeps the shape. It's a dark gray and you should feel the fine grit in the mud. (Don't touch this stuff though, if you even suspect it's ....not mud.)