![Proglacial Lake Brownworth Proglacial Lake Brownworth](icons/1_wright-lower_lake_brownworth_reflection.jpg) Shallow area of Lake Brownworth, with melted surface where runoff from the glacier in the background enters the lake. | ![Proglacial Lake Brownworth Proglacial Lake Brownworth](icons/2_wright-lower_lake_brownworth.jpg) Most of the lake surface is frozen, but with a thin veneer of meltwater on top. The south glacier margin is in the background. | ![Proglacial Lake Brownworth Proglacial Lake Brownworth](icons/3_wright-lower_lake_brownworth_1.jpg) The serrated margin of Wright Lower Glacier is a consequence of uneven ablation under a patchy wind blow sand cover. The sand enhances runoff of water, which forms alluvial fans that extend into the lake. | ![Proglacial Lake Brownworth Proglacial Lake Brownworth](icons/4_wright-lower_lake_serrated_ice.jpg) Remnants of dead glacier ice, with a very rough surface, occur within the lake body, suggesting slow decay of the glacier in this location. |
![Proglacial Lake Brownworth Proglacial Lake Brownworth](icons/5_lake_brownworth_serrated_ice.jpg) Differential ablation of clean and sand-covered ice produces a rough surface of hard glacier ice with abundant sharp edges, making surface travel challenging. | ![Proglacial Lake Brownworth Proglacial Lake Brownworth](icons/6_lake_brownworth_stromatolites_1.jpg) Near the margins of Lake Brownworth, where the water is a few metres deep at most, the ice surface is punctuated by algal growths from the lake bottom. These features are called ‘stromatolites’, and were once thought to grow only in tropical environments. | ![Proglacial Lake Brownworth Proglacial Lake Brownworth](icons/7_lake_brownworth_stromatolites_2.jpg) Looking down on top of one of the stromatolites, which are typically 20-40 cm in diameter. They have the texture of soggy cardboard! | |