Exit Glacier
The fjords on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, which give the Kenai Fjords National Park its name, were created by the movement of the glacier known as Exit Glacier. Exit Glacier is an active glacier, meaning it is still in motion, though it is retreating into the icefield it is connected to. As the glacier retreats, the movement of the ice reveals fjords and areas of bedrock that have been scraped away by the centuries-long advance and retreat of the glacier. Moving at a rate of 2 feet per day, the continued retreat of the glacier ensures that the landscape of the Kenai Fjords National Park will continue to evolve in the decades to come.
Harding Icefield
The source of the Exit Glacier is the Harding Icefield, which is one of four icefields remaining in the United States. It is the largest icefield contained entirely in U.S. borders. In addition to the Exit Glacier, the Harding Icefield serves as the source of at least 38 other named glaciers. The icefield covers 300 square miles, but if the glaciers that it spawns are taken into consideration, this area jumps to between 700 and 1,100 square miles.
Tectonic Movement
The fjords that the Exit Glacier and other glaciers have carved into the Kenai Mountains are filled with ocean water because the mountains themselves are slowly slipping into the Gulf of Alaska. The cause for this movement is the location of the mountain range along the border of two tectonic plates, the collision of which is causing the land to shift and be pulled slowly under sea level. Just as with the continuing movement of Exit Glacier, this tectonic movement helps to ensure the continued development of the landscape at the Kenai Fjords National Park.
Establishment as a National Park
The Kenai Fjords National Park was created as a part of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980. Legislation to preserve the fjords and the surrounding landscape as a national park was originally introduced into Congress in 1974 as one in a series of similar Alaskan bills, but the inclusion of the Kenai Fjords area was at the time considered controversial and little action was taken to pass the bills. Work began in 1975 to revamp the legislation as a single bill, though there was still opposition to the bill because of the large amount of Alaskan land that would be rendered unavailable for mining, forestry and oil drilling. President Jimmy Carter used the Antiquities Act to designate the Kenai Fjords area as well as the other areas mentioned in the bill as national monuments in 1978 in order to protect the lands. The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act was passed in time for Carter to sign it into law in December of 1980, before Ronald Reagan took office.
Tags: Exit Glacier, Kenai Fjords, Fjords National, Fjords National Park, Kenai Fjords National
