A glacier is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as crevasses and seracs, as it slowly flows and deforms under stresses induced by its weight. As it moves, it abrades rock and debris from its substrate to create landforms such as cirques, moraines, or fjords. Although a glacier may flow into a body of water, it forms only on land and is distinct from the much thinner sea ice and lake ice that form on the surface of bodies of water.
In glaciology, an ice sheet, also known as a continental glacier, is a mass of glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than 50,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi). The only current ice sheets are in Antarctica and Greenland; during the Last Glacial Period at Last Glacial Maximum, the Laurentide Ice Sheet covered much of North America, the Weichselian ice sheet covered Northern Europe and the Patagonian Ice Sheet covered southern South America.
A moulin is a roughly circular, vertical well-like shaft formed where a surface meltstream exploits a weakness in the ice. The term is derived from the French word for mill.
Glacier morphology, or the form a glacier takes, is influenced by temperature, precipitation, topography, and other factors. The goal of glacial morphology is to gain a better understanding of glaciated landscapes and the way they are shaped. Types of glaciers can range from massive ice sheets, such as the Greenland ice sheet, to small cirque glaciers found perched on mountain tops. Glaciers can be grouped into two main categories:
Eric J. Rignot is a chancellor professor of Earth system science at the University of California, Irvine, and senior research scientist for the Radar Science and Engineering Section at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Petermann Glacier is a large glacier located in North-West Greenland to the east of Nares Strait. It connects the Greenland ice sheet to the Arctic Ocean at 81°10' north latitude, near Hans Island.
Operation IceBridge is an ongoing NASA mission to monitor changes in polar ice. It is an airborne follow-on mission to the ICESat satellite, continuing until after the ICESat-2 mission launch in September 2018.
Bruckner Glacier, is a glacier in eastern Greenland.
The Grand Canyon of Greenland is a tentative canyon of record length discovered underneath the Greenland ice sheet as reported in the journal Science on 30 August 2013, by scientists from the University of Bristol, University of Calgary, and University of Urbino, who described it as a mega-canyon.
Sehested Fjord ) is a fjord of the King Frederick VI Coast in the Sermersooq municipality, southeastern Greenland.
The Hutchinson Glacier is a large active glacier on the east coast of the Greenland ice sheet.
Hiawatha Glacier is a glacier in northwest Greenland, with its terminus in Inglefield Land. It was mapped in 1922 by Lauge Koch, who noted that the glacier tongue extended into Lake Alida. Hiawatha Glacier attracted attention in 2018 because of the discovery of a crater beneath the surface of the ice sheet in the area. A publication noted in 1952 that Hiawatha Glacier had been retreating since 1920.
Fimbul Glacier, is a glacier in eastern Greenland.
Heim Glacier, is a glacier in eastern Greenland. It is named after Swiss geologist and glacial phenomena expert Albert Heim (1849–1937).
Skinfaxe is a glacier of the King Frederick VI Coast in the Sermersooq municipality, southeastern Greenland.
Rimfaxe is a glacier of the King Frederick VI Coast in the Sermersooq municipality, southeastern Greenland.
Tjasse is a glacier of the King Frederick VI Coast area in the Sermersooq municipality, southeastern Greenland.
Bernstorff Glacier, is a glacier in the King Frederick VI Coast, Sermersooq, southeastern Greenland.
Dodge Glacier, is a glacier in northwestern Greenland. Administratively it belongs to the Avannaata municipality.
