EARTHSC 1G03 Study Guide - Supercontinent, Oil Sands, Subduction
8 Dec 2013
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Document Summary
A glacier is a large, perennial mass of ice that forms on land and moves under the influence of gravity. A glacier can form wherever more snow accumulates than is lost. Ice sheets and valley glaciers are the two most important types of glaciers. Glaciers move downward from where the most snow accumulates toward where the most ice is wasted. A glacier moves both by basal sliding and by internal flow. The upper portion of a glacier tends to remain rigid and is carried along by the ice moving beneath it. Glaciers advance and recede in response to changes in climate. A receding glacier has a negative budget and an advancing one has a positive budget. A glacier"s budget for the year can be determined by noting the relative position of the equilibrium line. Snow recrystallizes into firn, which eventually becomes converted to glacier ice.
