What is the name of the glacier in Alaska that surged over 10 km in 2011?

The Bering Glacier is the Alaskan glacier associated with the major surge that reached its terminus in 2011. Located in the Saint Elias Mountains near the Gulf of Alaska, it is the largest and longest glacier in North America.

A glacial surge is a sudden period of exceptionally rapid flow, often separated from the next surge by years or decades of slower movement. Bering Glacier’s 2008–2011 surge involved a moving wave of accelerated ice. In summer 2011, ice-surface speeds near the terminus rose to roughly 4.4 kilometres per year, far above the glacier’s normal pace.

Researchers tracked the event using Landsat imagery, airborne laser altimetry and measurements of crevasses and surface elevation. The surge redistributed ice: parts of the reservoir area thinned while downstream regions thickened and advanced into proglacial lakes. The 2011 activity also extended into the connected Bagley Ice Valley, which is why scientific studies often refer to the Bering–Bagley Glacier System. This is a surge event, not simply ordinary seasonal advance caused by snowfall.