The glacier has retreated since the end of the Little Ice Age in the mid-19th century. During the mid-20th Century, the glacier split into two smaller glaciers occupying the high cirques of Mount Lyell.
Since 1883, the glacier area has retreated up to 70 percent.[4] Another glacier, the Maclure Glacier on nearby Mount Maclure, has also retreated significantly.
According to a study in 2013, today the Lyell is no longer a glacier, having lost any movement and thus it should be considered an ice field.[5][6]
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