Canada’s St. Elias Glaciers: Scientists Unveil Critical Ice Volume Insights

On World Water Day 2025, the world is focusing its gaze on Canada's St. Elias Mountains in Yukon, where researchers are making new discoveries regarding glacier dynamics and water security. These glaciers, located in the planet's highest coastal mountain range, are at the heart of global sea level rise and freshwater supply. Researchers from the University of Waterloo are employing sophisticated radar technology to reveal hidden information on their ice volume and ultimate effect on ecosystems and societies.

St. Elias Mountains hold approximately 32,100 square kilometers of glaciated land and have made major contributions to world sea level rise during the last few decades. Despite their isolated position and rugged terrain, very little is discovered about their internal ice structure and dynamics. Researchers from the University of Waterloo, headed by the Water Institute, are bridging that knowledge gap through AirIPR technology, an on-helicopter 1-kilometer penetration radar for ice.

During 2023 to 2024, the crew managed to successfully monitor six of the region's big ten glaciers, examining ice bed topography at an unprecedented level. Through the end of the 2025 field campaign, this project expects to build the first comprehensive picture of the region's ice volume and trends of ice movement. As contrasted with aggressively wasting temperate glaciers in the West of Canada, the St. Elias glaciers will keep filling into global sea level rise and regional hydrologic cycles long past this century comes and goes.

The research is especially geared toward surge-type glaciers, which have alternating slow movement and abrupt rapid surges. These glaciers are important to know because their variable behavior can affect downstream environments, Indigenous communities, and hydrological systems. Scientists are building high-resolution models to forecast when "peak water" will happen—the period when yearly meltwater from the glacier is at its maximum before it starts to decrease. This is significant in water resource planning and conservation management planning.

The other major issue of concern is increasing risk of glacial hazards like sudden unanticipated lake drainage. The Donjek Glacier, for instance, sometimes blocks a river and creates a lake that releases all the water at one time, resulting in flooding and disruption of ecosystems. Mapping the glacial lake hazards in the future will assist governments and residents by giving them the data they require to shield against threats.

Canada holds approximately 40% of non-polar globe's glaciered surface area, and this covers Greenland and Antarctica. With rising sea level projections for the planet continuously refining estimations, observation of these glaciers is a key aspect of remaining educated about global patterns on a larger scale. Information gathered from the St. Elias Mountains will not only help in national preservation but also add to world climate models, especially where unstable ice masses such as the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet are concerned.

The study at the St. Elias Mountains confirms the significance of scientific progress in observing glaciers. Because climate change is speeding glacier withdrawal globally, ice volume and dynamics need to be understood so that future water supply and the resulting environmental footprint can be estimated. Through sophisticated radar technology, researchers at Waterloo University are shedding essential light necessary for water security policy and climate policy.

Source & Credits
Source: University of Waterloo
Credits: Water Institute research, University of Waterloo