Engabreen Glacier, Norway, 1889 – 2010

via

The foot of the glacier had only ice, glacial gravel, water and bare mountain sides in a seemingly cold and hostile landscape. Now, more than 120 years later, the valley has become far more fertile. Birch forest, shore meadows, willow thickets and marshland have established themselves, while the glacier arm has retreated far back up the mountainside.