Overview
- A Journal of Geophysical Research paper published Aug. 26, 2026 reports Timpanogos Rock Glacier contains about 1.5 million cubic meters of ice and is roughly 83% ice by volume.
- Researchers mapped the buried ice with a novel approach that used 232 high-precision gravimeter readings across a 25-meter grid and a 3-D Bayesian inversion with corrections for tides and terrain to image internal density contrasts.
- The team derived a surface-area-to-volume relationship and used it to estimate roughly 48 gigatons of water in the world’s ~50,000 documented rock glaciers and about 1 gigaton in Utah, but those extrapolations depend on scaling assumptions that need regional calibration.
- Analyses and a companion paper show many Utah rock glaciers formed after the Ice Age when rockfall buried persistent snow, making them relatively slow-melting stores that can sustain late-summer streamflow and recharge groundwater while also posing hazards if destabilized.
- The studies are peer-reviewed and funded by agencies including the USGS and NSF, and researchers say further gravimetry and local testing are required before managers treat these hidden ice stores as reliable water supplies.