Glaciers
A glacier is a perennial mass of ice which moves over land. A glacier forms in locations where the mass accumulation of snow and ice exceeds ablation over many years. The word glacier comes from French via the Vulgar Latin glacia, and ultimately from Latin glacies meaning ice. The corresponding area of study is called glaciology.
The Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram Mountains, Pakistan. At 62 kilometres (39 mi) in length, it is one of the longest alpine glaciers on earth
Glacier ice is the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth, and is second only to oceans as the largest reservoir of total water. Glaciers cover vast areas of the polar regions and are found in mountain ranges of every continent including Australasia (there are glaciers in New Zealand). In the tropics glaciers are restricted to the highest mountains. The processes and landforms caused by glaciers and related to them are referred to as glacial. The process of glacier growth and establishment is called glaciation. Glaciers are indicators of climate and are important to world water resources and sea level variation. They are an important component of the more encompassing cryosphere.
The calving front of Perito Moreno Glacier, Patagonia, Argentina
Alpine glaciers form on mountain slopes and are also known as mountain, niche or cirque glaciers. An Alpine glacier that fills a valley is referred to as a Valley glacier. Larger glaciers that cover an entire mountain, mountain chain or volcano are known as an ice cap or ice field, such as the Juneau Icefield. Ice caps feed outlet glaciers, tongues of ice that extend into valleys below far from the margins of the larger ice masses.
Alpine Glacier
Ice sheets are the largest glaciers. These enormous masses of ice are not visibly affected by the landscape as they cover the entire surface beneath them, with possible exception near the glacier margins where they are thinnest. Antarctica and Greenland are the only places where Continental ice sheets currently exist. These regions contain vast quantities of fresh water. The volume of ice is so large that if the Greenland ice sheet melted, it would cause sea levels to rise six meters (20 ft) all around the world. If the Antarctic ice sheet melted, sea levels would rise up to 65 meters (210 ft).
Ice sheets
Ice shelves are areas of floating ice, commonly located at the margin of an ice sheet. As a result they are thinner and have limited slopes and reduced velocities.
Ice shelves
Ice streams are fast-moving sections of an ice sheet. They can be several hundred kilometers long. Ice streams have narrow margins and on either side ice flow is usually an order of magnitude less. In Antarctica, many ice streams drain into large ice shelves. However, some drain directly into the sea, often with an ice tongue, like Mertz Glacier. In Greenland and Antarctica ice streams ending at the sea are often referred to as tidewater glaciers or outlet glaciers, such as Jakobshavn Isbræ (Kalaallisut: Sermeq Kujalleq).
Ice streams
Tidewater glaciers are glaciers that terminate in the sea. As the ice reaches the sea pieces break off, or calve, forming icebergs. Most tidewater glaciers calve above sea level, which often results in a tremendous splash as the iceberg strikes the water. If the water is deep, glaciers can calve underwater, causing the iceberg to suddenly leap up out of the water. The Hubbard Glacier is the longest tidewater glacier in Alaska and has a calving face over 10 km (6 mi) long. Yakutat Bay and Glacier Bay are both popular with cruise ship passengers because of the huge glaciers descending hundreds of feet to the water. This glacier type undergoes centuries-long cycles of advance and retreat that are much less affected by the climate changes currently causing the retreat of most other glaciers. Most tidewater glaciers are outlet glaciers of ice caps and ice fields.
Tidewater Glacier
