Donjek Glacier

Donjek Glacier, known in Southern Tutchone as Dän Zhǘr, lies in Kluane National Park in Yukon on the eastern side of the Saint Elias Mountains. About 35 miles long, it descends into the Donyek River Valley and has shaped the landscape for centuries. It once formed a natural dam that created Donjek Lake. Evidence near the river bed, including eroded till mounds, shows the glacier was formerly larger than it is now. Research in 1970 found no sign that it retreated from the valley during the Holocene climatic optimum, though other evidence suggests an earlier withdrawal before neoglaciation. A minor 1978 surge and a 1998 ice-canyon collapse show it remains highly active.

Yukon · Canada