Rock Glacier Velocities from Selwyn Mountains Surveys

Surface velocities for 15 rock glaciers in the Selwyn Mountains of Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada, were measured using surveyed markers. An average of six markers per glacier were surveyed in two distinct years, 1983 and 1995, using different instruments. The dataset, managed by NASA, also incorporates lichen ages and glacier lengths derived from surficial geology maps.

Use Cases

• Analyzing inter-annual velocity changes between 1983 and 1995 for 15 rock glaciers.
• Correlating surface movement rates with marker location on the glacier body.
• Integrating lichen ages from Dyke (1990a) to assess rock glacier activity timelines.
• Using rock glacier lengths from 1:50,000 maps for morphological studies.
• Evaluating measurement error impact on observed velocity variability.

Strengths

• Direct field measurements from two distinct time points (1983, 1995) provide a temporal comparison.
• Measurement error is quantified at approximately 3 percent.
• Dataset includes ancillary data like lichen ages and glacier lengths from published maps.

Limitations

• Exact row count, column names, and dataset size are unknown from all sources.
• Conflicting last updated dates: datagov lists 2026-03-12, while nasa_earthdata lists 1995-12 31.
• Limited temporal coverage with only two survey years over a 12-year span.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Collection Method

Field surveys using a level (1983) and a theodolite (1995) on an average of six markers per rock glacier. Lichen ages and lengths from maps by Dyke (1990).

Time Range

1983 to 1995

Freshness

2026-03 12 22:27:36.934444

Geography

Selwyn Mountains, Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada.