Vaughan Lewis Icefall

The Vaughan Lewis icefall in Alaska empties ice from the Juneau Icefield plateau into the grand Gilkey Glacier valley thousands of feet below. As ice flows through the icefall it is first stretched at the top then compressed at the bottom, forming annual crescentic waves called ‘ogives’. These ogives persist on the surface of the Gilkey Glacier for many kilometers down-valley. Very few glacier icefalls worldwide possess the right flow conditions to produce ogives. The Vaughan Lewis icefall in Southeast Alaska generates some of the most extraordinary ogives found anywhere, and seen from the air, offers a beautiful illustration of the physics of glacier flow.