Mrs. Happ and students wrote:

We enjoyed looking at all the pictures of the glacier and ice fields you posted. We were surprised that you were able to wear fairly light clothing. We thought it might be somewhat colder even though it is summer there. Nonetheless, we had a few questions about the pictures and hoped you might have some time to answer them. We wanted to know about how tall the glacier that looked like a cliff measured and what the lines on the face of the glacier are caused from. We were also fascinated by the picture of the rock formation that looked like long fingers. What type of rock was it? Would we be able to find similar rocks here in Michigan? We hope all is going well and look forward to your answers.

Canada Glacier in Taylor Valley, Antarctica

Thanks for the great questions.  It is not too cold here, but keep in mind that this is the middle of summer and we are still getting snow!  I'm not entirely sure how tall the Canada Glacier is near where I was standing, but my guess is a few stories.  So 10 or 15 meters (30 to 45 feet).  You are asking a lot of great questions about glaciers that a glaciologist would probably be better suited to answer.  I'll give it my best shot.  You can think of glaciers as giant, slow motion, moving bodies of water.  Sure, they're frozen, but they're still moving.  As these masses of water slowly flow down hill, the surfaces crack.  The lines you see in the picture I took are probably the result of cracks, and chunks of ice falling off the face of the glacier.  But, if you see a glacier from the air (like in a helicopter), you'll see massive cracks and fissures called crevasses.  These enormous cracks result from the glaciers flowing over uneven terrain, or around topography that causes the flow of the ice to be disrupted.

Rock near Canada Glacier that has been broken apart by freeze-thaw cycles

I think the rock you are referring to was cracked apart from freeze-thaw cycles.  There are many rocks that look like that.  Water works its way into the rocks, freezes and expands, thaws out, and repeats many many times over many many years.  The rocks eventually crack like the roads in Michigan.  I think the rock was volcanic in origin.  You may think there are not volcanic rocks in Michigan, but there are.  In the upper peninsula, Isle Royale is of volcanic origin.  When glaciers dug out Lake Superior, the harder volcanic rock was more resistant and was left behind as islands.  The soil and rocks in the lower peninsula are from glacial till.  This means that the glaciers dug up rocks and soil and moved large quantities of rocks and soil.  When the glaciers melted and retreated, they dropped large quantities of rocks and soil all over the lower peninsula.  My understanding is that slow moving glaciers that advanced and retreated many times over the lower peninsula created this really deep soil that is called "glacial till".  Farther north, in the upper peninsula, the glaciers retreated more quickly and scraped away rock and soil, exposing bedrock, and the volcanic rock that makes up Isle Royale in Lake Superior.

I think it's very interesting that the landscapes of both Michigan and Antarctica have been so heavily influenced by glaciers.  We can still see the glaciers in Antarctica, but they are long gone from Michigan.  The outwash plains in southeastern Michigan, which are really flat and sandy, are from ancient lakes (like Lake Maumee) that existed because of glacial melt water that was blocked from draining by ice dams.  The soils in Taylor Valley in Antarctica have also been heavily influenced by ancient lakes that existed because of glacial dynamics.

Thanks again for the questions, and keep them coming!