Mystery Challenge 3 (Continued...)
Let's Solve the Legend of Miner Ed

WOW!!
In Mystery Challenge 2, you found out that the surge front is traveling 90 meters a day, BUT - remember, most of the glacier ice travels slower. Scientists found out how much slower!

Illustration by Erica Herbert

Photo by James Roush

Researchers landed a helicopter on a spit of land and hiked up the side of the glacier to stick poles in the glacier. Those poles moved down the glacier pretty fast, about 15 meters a day. This is how fast the main, or middle, part of the glacier was moving. See the diagram to the left. The ice in the middle of a glacier actually flows faster than the ice near the sides of a glacier.

So, Miner Ed could be travelling at 15 METERS PER DAY while surge waves go by at 90 METERS PER DAY! How far will Miner Ed go during the surge? Will he come out at the glacier's terminus?

Mystery Challenge 3
Let's Solve the Legend of Miner Ed

GUESS WHAT?
Though the glacier was moving 15 meters a day, the glacier terminus actually advanced more slowly because a terminus loses ice through calving, melting, etc!

In fact, the Bering Glacier terminus advanced at only 10 meters per day because 5 meters per day kept breaking off!

THAT MEANS,
Since Miner Ed was moving forward with the main glacier at 15 meters a day while the terminus was advancing at only 10 meters a day, Miner Ed was in effect only moving 5 meters closer to the terminus each day. After 98 days, how much closer was Miner Ed to the terminus?

5 meters a day x 98 days = ???

If before the surge began, the crevasse near the Grindle Hills (where Miner Ed fell in) was 11.5 kilometers away from the terminus, did Miner Ed catch up to the terminus during the surge?

Ice Worm Hint: To convert kilometers into meters, multiply by 1000!

11.5 x 1000 = 11,500 meters

If 490 is greater than 11,500, YES.
If 11,500 is greater than 490, NO.

CONGRATULATIONS! You solved the mystery!

Oh no! Is Miner Ed stuck in the glacier forever?
See the surprise on the next page...

On July 27, 1994, there was a catastrophic outburst flood (a Jokulhlaup) which lasted at least two weeks. It carved a canyon in the glacier from its surface to its bed and also carved ice way upstream. This flood ended the surge of Bering Glacier

AND

Out came Miner Ed!
August 1, 1994
(after spending 458 days in the depths of the glacier)

Illustration by Donna Redhead

"I knew that glacier would have to spit me out. My tall tales gave it indigestion!"

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"Yo, A Glacier!"

Listen to the Ice Worm Wigglers practice a rap song about glaciers! Have fun!