A century of glacier change in the Wind River Range, WY

The Wind River Range spans roughly 200 km along the continental divide in western Wyoming and encompasses at least 269 glaciers and perennial snowfields totaling 34.34 ± 0.13 km2 (2006), including Gannett Glacier, the largest glacier (2.81 km2) in the continental U.S. outside of Washington State. To track changing glacier and perennial snow surface area over the past century we used historic maps, aerial photography, and geologic evidence evident in said imagery. Since the end of the Little Ice Age (~ 1900), when the glaciers retreated from their moraines, to 2006 the ice-covered area shrank by ~ 47%. The main driver of surface area change was air temperature, with glaciers at lower elevations shrinking faster than those at higher elevations. The total contribution of ice wastage to late summer stream flow ranged from 0.4 to 1.5%, 0.9 to 2.8%, 1.7 to 5.4%, and 3.4 to 10.9% in four different watersheds, none of which exceeded 7% glacier cover. Results from previous studies were difficult to include because of differences in interpretation of glacier boundaries, because of poor imagery, or to extensive seasonal snow. These difficulties highlight potential problems in combining data sets from different studies and underscores the importance of reexamining past observations to ensure consistent interpretation.