South Tahoma Glacier

The South Tahoma Glacier is a glacier located on the southwest flank of Mount Rainier in State of Washington. It covers 1.1 square miles (2.8 km2) and contains 4.6 billion ft3 (130 million m3) of ice. Starting from an elevation of around 10,600 feet (3,200 m) at the base of a steep cliff, the glacier flows down southwest with the larger, adjacent Tahoma Glacier lying to the north. The smaller South Tahoma is connected to the Tahoma at an ice patch located in midway down the South Tahoma. From then on, the glacier narrows and flows down southwest and accumulates rock debris before turning and ending at an elevation of around 5,100 feet (1,600 m). The southern ice stream used to be connected to a northern ice stream coming down south from the Tahoma Glacier encompassing a jagged 7,690 feet (2,344 m) high sub-peak of Rainier called Glacier Island, but retreat has separated the glaciers at an elevation below 8,000 ft (2,400 m). Meltwater from the glacier drains into the Nisqually River.