Glaciology is the scientific study of glaciers, or, more generally, ice and natural phenomena that involve ice.
The Pirin Mountains are a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria, with the highest peak, Vihren, at an altitude of 2,914 m (9,560 ft).
Gran Sasso d'Italia is a massif in the Apennine Mountains of Italy. Its highest peak, Corno Grande 2,912 metres (9,554 ft), is the highest mountain in the Apennines, and the second-highest mountain in Italy outside the Alps. The mountain lies within Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park.
Pirin National Park, originally named Vihren National Park, encompasses the larger part of the Pirin Mountains in southwestern Bulgaria, spanning an area of 403.56 square kilometers (155.82 sq mi).
Corno Grande is the highest point in the Apennine Mountains, situated in Abruzzo, central Italy. Part of the Gran Sasso massif, it is the highest peak of the Italian Peninsula at 2,912 metres (9,554 ft). It is the highest peak in mainland Italy outside of the Alps, and the second highest in the entire country outside the Alps, after Mount Etna in Sicily. It has significant vertical relief on the north side, though its south side is less elevated than the adjacent Campo Imperatore plateau.
Vihren is the highest peak of Bulgaria's Pirin Mountains. Reaching 2,914 metres (9,560 ft), it is Bulgaria's second and the Balkans' third highest, after Musala and Mount Olympus. Although Vihren is deprived of lakes and streams due to the karst topography, a number of Pirin's lakes are located around the peak, as is Europe's southernmost glacial mass, the Snezhnika glacieret. Until 1942 Vihren was known as Eltepe ; it was also called Buren (stormy) and Malnienosets (lightning-bringer). The UNESCO World Heritage Site Pirin National Park was originally known as the Vihren National Park. Vihren is included in the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria under No. 2.
Jezercë is the highest peak in the Dinaric Alps, the second highest in Albania and the sixth highest in Southeast Europe, standing at 2,694 m (8,839 ft) above sea level. It is the 28th most prominent mountain peak in Europe, and is regarded as one of the toughest and most dangerous climbs in the Albanian Alps.
The retreat of glaciers since 1850 is a well-documented effect of climate change. The retreat of mountain glaciers provide evidence for the rise in global temperatures since the late 19th century. Examples include mountain glaciers in western North America, Asia, the Alps in central Europe, and tropical and subtropical regions of South America and Africa. Since glacial mass is affected by long-term climatic changes, e.g. precipitation, mean temperature, and cloud cover, glacial mass changes are one of the most sensitive indicators of climate change. The retreat of glaciers is also a major reason for sea level rise. Excluding peripheral glaciers of ice sheets, the total cumulated global glacial losses over the 26 years from 1993 to 2018 were likely 5500 gigatons, or 210 gigatons per year.
Kutelo is a summit in the Pirin mountain range, southwestern Bulgaria. With a height of 2,908 m it is the second highest peak in Pirin after Vihren (2,914 m), and the third one in Bulgaria, behind Musala (2,925 m) in Rila and Vihren. Kutelo is a double peak with a small saddle between the two parts, the lower being only one meter shorter than the higher one, at 2,907 m. Seen from the town of Bansko, it appears higher than Vihren.
Golemiya Kazan is one of the two cirques that form an area called Kazanite, situated in Bulgaria's Pirin mountain range. Kazanite are located below the two highest summits Vihren (2,914 m) to the south and Kutelo (2,908 m) to the north. It is composed of two cirques, Malkiya Kazan, which is the lower one (2,200 m) and is grassy, and Golemiya Kazan, situated at 2,400 m and with stony slopes. The size of Golemiya Kazan is 1,200 m by 1,100 m. They were named like that because there is often fog rising from the cirques. Due to the karst in the region there are no lakes or streams in Kazanite. A 450 m-high face of Vihren begins from Golemiya Kazan and at its foot a small glacier called Snezhnika is located, whose size is 80x90 m in summer, with a latitude of 41°46′09″ N it is the southernmost glacial mass in Europe. Chamois are abundant in this area.
Debeli Namet is a small glacier below Mount Šljeme in the Durmitor massif, Montenegro.
The Banski Suhodol Glacier is a small glacier (glacieret) in the Pirin Mountains of Bulgaria. It lies below the Kutelo peak in the upper Banski Suhodol Valley.
The Tête Rousse Glacier is a small but significant glacier located in the Mont Blanc massif within the French Alps whose collapse in 1892 killed 200 people in the town of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains.
The Tarfala research station is a field station of Stockholm University. The station is situated in the Tarfala Valley in northern Sweden. It specializes in glacial, periglacial and climatological research.
Snezhnika is a glacieret in the Pirin Mountains of Bulgaria, a remnant of the former Vihren Glacier. The glacieret lies at an elevation between 2,425 m (7,956 ft) and 2,480 m (8,140 ft) in the deep Golemiya Kazan cirque at the steep northern foot of Vihren, Pirin's highest summit. Due to the relatively easy access and its location along a popular hiking trail, Snezhnika is Bulgaria's most famous glacieret. Snezhnika has an average area of 0.01 km2 (0.0039 sq mi) and in 2006 it had a volume of 30,000 m3 (1,100,000 cu ft).
Jean Grove was a British physical geographer and glaciologist known for her comprehensive study of climate change in the Little Ice Age across the world.
The southernmost persistent glacial masses in Europe are mainly small glaciers, glacierets, and perennial firn fields and patches, located in the highest mountains of the three big southern European peninsulas - the Balkan, the Apennine, and the Iberian, the southernmost ranges of the Alps and the glaciers on the european northwestern slopes of the Greater Caucasus mountains in Russia. There are summer lasting snow patches in Sierra Nevada, in Mount Olympus (40°05′08″), in Mount Korab (41°47′28″), in Rila Mountain, in Picos de Europa (43°11′51″) in the Cantabrian Mountains, in Mount Maglić (43°16′52″) and others. However, none of them have both persistency and indications of dynamic motion. In southern direction, some 4000 km away, are the glaciers in Africa in Rwenzori Mountains (00°23′09″N), Mount Kenya (00°09′03″S) and Mount Kilimanjaro (03°04′33″S).
Purog Kangri is an ice field in the Tibetan Plateau, in Nagqu, China. It is shrinking rapidly.
