ON the international glaciological market Austin Post’s name has become well known during the last ten years and associated with the most magnificent photographs of glacier surges. So it is no surprise that a glacier picture atlas, meeting the highest possible requirements, has now been published. And it is no surprise that Post has joined forces with E. R. LaChapelle, who has contributed a great number of the ground photographs necessary for the proper understanding of the pictures from the air. The result of this co-operation could hardly be anything but good.
It all began when Richard C. Hubley stanted his aerial photography of glaciers in western North America in 1955. Two years later Hubley lost his life on McCall Glacier and the photographic programme was taken over by LaChapelle. Since 1960 Post has carried the responsibility and through his efforts and enthusiasm further glaciers have been included in the annual photo-survey.
The original task was to map the extent of the present glaciers and to study their reaction to climatic changes. However, good photographs often contain a wealth of information, and it did not take long before Post became a specialist on glacier surges, having identified over 200 surging glaciers. From looped moraines and other peculiarities he could recognize this type of glacier and could even give a “surge forecast”.
Glacier ice, which might as well have been called Glaciers since it deals with so many aspects of glaciology, contains 136 photographs and each one has something to show. It is not just a collection of beautiful pictures, they are all selected to fit the story. The text is short but well written; some of us would have liked to have just a few terms changed. It is quite obviously written for a wide audience, but, when read with the pictures, it also gives the glaciologist a lot to think about. The text is fitted to the pictures like a good accompaniment to a song. What the pictures have to say carries the message.
If you want to give a non-glaciologist friend a handsome gift, this book is a good choice—and you can use it when you try to raise money for glaciology from a donor-to-be. You can also use it to show your colleagues or students an illustration of what you are trying to describe to them; you can be almost sure it can be found in Glacier ice—but not necessarily mentioned in the text.
It is not much use trying to judge whether the pictures of the ogives are better than those of medial moraines or surges or crevasse patterns or surface features—they are all very instructive. My only constructive remark would be this: why not publish a separate small book with a more comprehensive text so that students of glaciology could get the full benefit out of Glacier ice? The present text corresponds to only twenty full pages of this journal, and for a glaciologist the excellent illustrations would be worth ten times more.
