Matanuska Glacier is a valley glacier

Glacier

A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...

 in the US state of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

. At 27 miles (43.5 km) long by 4 miles (6.4 km) wide, it is the largest glacier accessible by car in the United States. Its terminus

Glacier terminus

A glacier terminus, or snout, is the end of a glacier at any given point in time. Although glaciers seem motionless to the observer, in reality glaciers are in endless motion and the glacier terminus is always either advancing or retreating...

 is the source of the Matanuska River

Matanuska River

The Matanuska River is a river, approximately 75 miles long, in Southcentral Alaska, United States. It drains a broad valley south of the Alaska Range known as the Matanuska-Susitna Valley....

. It lies near the Glenn Highway

Glenn Highway

-References:* Pasch, A. D., K. C. May. 2001. Taphonomy and paleoenvironment of hadrosaur from the Matanuska Formation in South-Central Alaska. In: Mesozioc Vertebrate Life. Ed.s Tanke, D. H., Carpenter, K., Skrepnick, M. W. Indiana University Press. Pages 219-236.-External links:**...

 about 100 miles (160.9 km) northeast of Anchorage

Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...

. Matanuska Glacier flows about 1 feet (30.5 cm) per day. Due to ablation

Ablation

Ablation is removal of material from the surface of an object by vaporization, chipping, or other erosive processes. This occurs in spaceflight during ascent and atmospheric reentry, glaciology, medicine, and passive fire protection.-Spaceflight:...

 of the lower glacier, , the location of the glacier terminus

Glacier terminus

A glacier terminus, or snout, is the end of a glacier at any given point in time. Although glaciers seem motionless to the observer, in reality glaciers are in endless motion and the glacier terminus is always either advancing or retreating...

 changed little over the previous three decades.http://webspace.ship.edu/cjwolt/geology/SLIDES/GL-AK.HTM

The glacier is the eponym of the Alaska Marine Highway

Alaska Marine Highway

The Alaska Marine Highway or the Alaska Marine Highway System is a ferry service operated by the government of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has its headquarters in Ketchikan, Alaska....

 ferry M/V Matanuska

M/V Matanuska

M/V Matanuska, colloquially known as the Mat, is a mainline Malaspina-class ferry vessel for the Alaska Marine Highway System....

.

See also

• Matanuska Formation
  Matanuska Formation
  The Matanuska Formation consists of more than of sedimentary strata exposed in the northern Chugach Mountains, Matanuska Valley, and southern Talkeetna Mountains of South-Central Alaska. The Matanuska Formation contains strata from Early Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous . Parts of the formation...
  
  
• List of glaciers