ISEA (International geodetic project in SouthEastern Alaska) for Rapid Uplifting Caused by Glacial Retreat: (2) Establishment of Continuous GPS Sites (CGPS)

Rapid disintegration and thinning of Glacier Bay's tidewater glaciers and ice fields followed the end of the Little Ice Age. Geodetic studies by Larsen et al. have quantified average rates of post-glacial isostatic rebound (PGR) in the vicinity of Glacier Bay in Southeast Alaska. PGR continues today with maximum uplift rates of 30 mm/yr in Glacier Bay's upper West Arm and 32 mm/yr in the Yakutat Icefield. ISEA is a collaborative Japanese-American project which will combine CGPS measurements of uplift with absolute gravity and gravity tide observations in Southeast Alaska. ISEA will build on previous work in Glacier Bay with a multi-pronged geophysical approach similar to that used by Sato et al. in Svalbard, Norway. CGPS data sets from Gustavus and elsewhere in Alaska show seasonal variability in vertical velocity. We hypothesize this is due to winter snow loading and summer ice loss in adjacent mountain ranges. If uplift rates are found to accelerate over the five year span of this project, this would suggest increasing rates of present day ice loss in Glacier Bay. CGPS measurements of seasonal crustal deformation might be used as a powerful integrating tool for mass balance monitoring over an extensive, glacierized area. ISEA supplements existing CGPS stations [U.S. Coast Guard and Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO)] and improves the spatial array with new stations in and around Glacier Bay. During June and September of 2006, an ISEA field team established five new CGPS stations. Two new sites within Glacier Bay National Park, at Blue Mouse Cove and Queen Inlet, are near the zone of maximum uplift. The third CGPS was placed to the east, on Eldred Rock, in northern Lynn Canal. The fourth site, to the west near Dry Bay, completes a 200 km east-west "transect" through this uplift peak. The fifth site lies to the northeast along the Haines Highway in Yukon, Canada. A sixth site in the Tatshenshini River region, north of Glacier Bay, is proposed for 2007. Site construction follows PBO designs for short-drilled, braced, steel GPS monuments. GPS receivers are powered by 12v solar systems or disposable air-alkaline batteries. Our CGPS sites are not telemetered and will require annual visits.