WWRC 89-03
Recent Trends in Glaciers and Glacier Runoff, Wind River Range, Wyoming
Abstract
The largest concentration of glaciers in the American Rocky Mountains occurs
in the Wind River Range of Wyoming, but the contribution of glacier meltwater to flow in
headwater streams of the Green River and Wind River drainages has not been documented.
The present study documents the loss of ice in Dinwoody and Gannett Glaciers since the
1930's and the importance of glacier meltwater to overall water supply in the Green River
and Wind River drainages. Both glaciers have retreated and lost thickness in the last five
decades, but repeat photography revealed that Dinwoody Glacier has responded more
dramatically than Gannett Glacier to the unfavorable climatic conditions. This contrast
can be explained by the difference in area-elevation curves between the two glaciers.
The estimated glacier meltwater from Dinwoody and Gannett Glaciers amounts to 27 percent
of the September runoff and 32 percent of the October runoff in lower Dinwoody Creek. The
July-October runoff from glaciers in the Wind River Range is approximately 70 x 106m3, or
eight percent of the average runoff in the Wind River and Green River basins during that
four-month period.
(KEY TERMS: glaciers; runoff; climate change; Wind River Range.)
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