Glacier Tidbits

• Glaciers and ice sheets cover a tenth of the Earth's surface.
• Alpine or mountain glaciers, like the Dinwoody Glacier in Wyoming, USA, form on mountain slopes.
• Glaciers which cover a mountain or mountain range are called ice caps or ice fields.
• An alpine glacier which fills an entire valley is called a valley glacier.
• A tidewater glacier is one which terminates in the sea.
• Glaciers are formed when more snow falls on its surface than can thaw in the summer.  The snow is gradually compacted under the weight of overlying snow and accumulates as glacial ice.
• Glacial formation occurs at the top of the glacier and wears away at the bottom of the glacier, in a process known as ablation.
• When a glaciers accumulation is less than its ablation, a glacier starts to shrink.
• Glaciers carve valleys in a "U" shape, while streams carve valleys in a "V" shape.
• Glacial erosion occurs when ice carried debris moves over underlying rocks. This is called glacier striation and illustrates the direction of the glaciers travel.
• Glacial meltwater has been captured worldwide for decades and used to support agriculture during dry seasons.  For example, irrigation ditches are found on the slopes of Huascarán, Cordillera Blanca, Peru, Zeneggen, Switzerland (referred to as Suonen or bisses) and Sublette County, Wyoming.
• Glacial ice often appears blue as years of compression make the ice denser allowing it to absorb all other colors in the spectrum and reflect primarily blue.