Why is glacier water blue

As the glacier flows down the valley, the ice, which contains many rock fragments, grinds over the valley floor and erodes the rock producing the fine sediment. The intensity of the blue colour can vary depending on the amount of water input where it comes from.

The lake is not just fed from glacial streams but from other streams around the catchment. Further up the valley in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park is the Tasman Glacier lake where the water is quite grey, because of a very high concentration of silt particles. Here the glacier flows directly into the lake, so the water is dominated by glacial melt water. Our glaciers are shrinking because of human-induced climate warming. Choose low-carbon transport options where possible and take all your waste with you.

Better yet, work to minimise your waste — do your best to look after our Earth. When you are visiting Lake Pukaki and cast your eyes up the sides of the hills. During the peak of the last ice age around 20, years ago , the glacier that formed Lake Pukaki used to flow all the way to the modern-day highway. No results found, please try another search. SynopsisDescription striphtml truncate 37, ' Have it all.

So, what is glacier flour? How glaciers move? Glacial flour: fun facts Clear water in the sea or non-glacial lakes absorbs longer wavelengths of visible light yellow, orange and red and strongly reflects shorter blue and blue-green wavelengths.

Glacier sightseeing from the air Since the light reflected off the glacial or rock flour has a lot to do with the intensity of the colour of these lakes, the best way to view them is from up above. Coast Mountain Epic Uncompromising and unforgettable. Phantom Lake by Seaplane Land on emerald waters atop a magnificent waterfall and walk the beach under Tzoonie Glacier. Crafted by nature captured for a lifetime.

Fly Fishing By Seaplane True wilderness fishing. Where the catch is as remarkable as the view. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website.

Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Since the particles are so fine, they are slow to sink to the bottom, remaining suspended in the water column instead.

When sunlight hits the water, these particles absorb the shortest wavelengths: the purples and indigos. Meanwhile, the water absorbs the longer wavelength reds, oranges, and yellows. That leaves mainly blues and greens to get scattered back to our eyes. Meltwater from the Classen, Gray, and Godley glaciers all drain into the river.

Vegetation produces organic matter and other substances—scientists call it colored dissolved organic matter CDOM —that darken water. Satellites are quite useful for comparing lake color across broad areas. Researchers from the University of Waikato recently reported using Landsat 8 to catalogue the color of 1, lakes in New Zealand. They found broad patterns related to the type of environment where a lake was located and the way nearby land was used. For instance, blue lakes mostly occurred in sparsely populated, mountainous areas.

What the researchers described as yellow lakes mostly appeared in forested areas, where water had high CDOM values. Lakes that were classified as green or green-yellow were more likely in areas with farms nearby.