By BECKY BOHRER

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A retreating glacier revealed a new island in Alaska this summer, as lake water filled in to surround a land mass once hugged by ice.

Related Articles

In coastal Ghana, female oyster farmers try to save an old practice threatened by climate change

National Academy of Sciences rebuffs Trump EPA’s effort to undo regulations fighting climate change

Youth mental health challenges keep mounting 2 years after Maui wildfires

Climate tracking apps measure your carbon footprint. Here’s how they work

How AI is helping some small-scale farmers weather a changing climate

Mauri S. Pelto, a glaciologist at Nichols College in Massachusetts, had anticipated for some time that the Alsek Glacier in southeast Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve would detach from the land mass referred to as Prow Knob. As the glacier has retreated, it has eroded a basin now filled by Alsek Lake, which is fed by the nearby Alsek River, glacier melt and icebergs, he said.

Pelto for years has used satellite imagery as part of his work chronicling changes in glaciers, and he had been checking images of the area at least once a month as he watched for the separation to occur, he said. It appears to have happened sometime between late July and early August.

Glacier Bay has over 1,000 glaciers, according to the park. While many glaciers in Alaska are retreating, not many new islands of size are revealed by their retreat, Pelto said. Prow Knob is roughly 2 square miles, and its highest point is just over 1,000 feet, he said.

This satellite image provided by NASA Earth Observatory shows the Alsek Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska around much of a land mass known as Prow Knob, center right, with a lake bordering on one side, July 5, 1984. (NASA Earth Observatory via AP)

Imagery from the early 1980s, shared by NASA Earth Observatory, shows the Alsek Glacier largely surrounding Prow Knob, with Alsek Lake on one side. The glacier at that time shared a connection with Grand Plateau Glacier, the images show.

Over time, the lake has expanded as the glaciers have retreated. Alsek Lake is one of three lakes next to glaciers in the region that has seen marked growth since the 1980s, Pelto said.