Hidden Ice Vaults: Utah's Rock Glaciers Could Hedge Water Shortages
Utah researchers mapped the Timpanogos Rock Glacier under Mount Timpanogos and found it contains about 1.5 million cubic meters of ice (enough to fill 600 Olympic pools), implying Utah’s rock glaciers may hold around 1 gigaton (~815,000 acre-feet) of ice and could serve as climate-resilient water storage. The ice-rich interior (83% ice, 17% rock) was revealed using gravity measurements to create a 3D map, and there are more than 50,000 rock glaciers worldwide (836 in Utah), with some still accumulating ice today.