| Lyell Glacier | |
|---|---|
 East lobe of Lyell Glacier | |
  Lyell Glacier Location in California  Lyell Glacier Lyell Glacier (the United States) | |
| Type | Mountain glacier |
| Location | Yosemite National Park, Tuolumne County, California, United States |
| Coordinates | 37°44′35″N 119°16′09″W / 37.74306°N 119.26917°W[1] |
| Length | .5 mi (0.80 km) estimated |
| Terminus | Talus |
| Status | Retreating |
Lyell Glacier is in the Sierra Nevada of California. The glacier was discovered by John Muir in 1871,[2] and was the largest glacier in Yosemite National Park. It lies on the northern slopes of Mount Lyell.[3]
The glacier has retreated since the end of the Little Ice Age in the mid-19th century. During the mid-20th Century, the glacier split into two smaller glaciers occupying the high cirques of Mount Lyell. Since 1883, the glacier area has retreated up to 70 percent.[4] Another glacier, the Maclure Glacier on nearby Mount Maclure, has also retreated significantly.
According to a study in 2013, today the Lyell is no longer a glacier, having lost any movement and thus it should be considered an ice field.[5][6]
- ^ "Lyell Glacier". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
- ^ Muir, John, 1873. On Actual Glaciers in California. American Journal of Science and Arts, v:69-71
- ^ Mount Lyell, CA (Map). TopoQwest (United States Geological Survey Maps). Retrieved September 30, 2012.
- ^ "Twentieth Century Glacier Change in the Sierra Nevada, California". Hassan Basagic. May 14, 2005. Archived from the original on September 6, 2006. Retrieved January 11, 2007.
- ^ "California's Vanishing Glaciers: A Defining Moment | KQED". Kqed.
- ^ Gilbreath, Aaron (April 12, 2019). "What the Death of a Glacier Means for Us". Longreads.