This view of the Malaspina Glacier is at the intersection of the Gulf of Alaska and the entrance to Yakutat Bay. The giant sheet of ice flows down from the Saint Elias Mountains which peaks at 18,000 feet. This piedmont glacier – meaning it remains in a valley and does not reach the water – is the largest in the world. Malaspina Glacier covers 1,500 square miles. The maximum depth is about 2,000 feet. When 66 feet of that depth melted between 1980 and 2000, it raised the world’s sea level by a half a percent.
