WHAT IS THE LIFE CYCLE OF A GLACIER?
SNOW PILES UP QUICKER THAN IT MELTS
The area in which this occurs is called the accumulation zone. The area in which the snow begins to melt is called the ablation zone. This happens in environments where it is cold all year round.
If all Ice lands melted, sea level would rise by
70 meters
ABLATION ZONE
FIRNIFICATION
The snow begins to compress due to the weight of it. This process is called firnification.
GLACIER ICE CAN GROW AS LARGE AS
Once the layers of firn (dense grainy ice) grow thick enough at about 50 metres, they fuse into a mass fo sollid ice. This can take many centuries.
SOLID ICE
Some parts of the ice sheet in Antarctica are 2.6 miles thick.
10% of the land area on Earth is covered by glacial ice.
10%
The ice becomes so compressed, that most of the air is forced out, giving it a blue appearance.
BLUE ICE
ALPINE Also called mountain glaciers, these flow downhill due to gravity.
2 GLACIER TYPES These are also known as ice sheets, and form on flat landscapes e.g. Antarctica, and flow outwards.
CONTINENTAL
MOVEMENT
The glacier is under so much pressure it begins to melt, allowing the glacier to flow downslope. This process calves out the surrounding environment, and creates the landscapes that we know of today, such as the Lake District.
TERMINUS
This is the end of the glacier. If the terminus meets the coast, it becomes a tidewater glacier. The edge of it lifts and floats in the water, forming cliffs of ice that may be 60 metres. Chunks of ice at the edge of the tidewater glacier break away into the water - a process called calving, forming icebergs.
75% Glaciers store 75% of the Earth’s freshwater
ICEBERG