Glacier
hideA glacier is a large mass of ice moving slowly over some land surface or down a valley, formed over long periods from the accumulation of snow in areas where the amount of snow that falls exceeds the amount that melts. The word glacier comes from French via the Vulgar Latin glacia, and ultimately from Latin glacies meaning ice.
Glacier ice is the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth, and second only to oceans as the largest reservoir of total water. Glaciers cover vast areas of the polar regions and are found in mountain ranges of every continent except Australia, as well as in New Zealand. In the tropics glaciers are restricted to the highest mountains. The processes and landforms caused by glaciers and related to them are referred to as glacial. The process of glacier growth and establishment is called glaciation. Glaciers are sensitive monitors of climate conditions and are crucial to both world water resources and sea level variation.
For more information about Glacier, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with glaciers
Greenland glaciers: What lies beneath
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 15, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (4) |
1
Scientists who study the melting of Greenland's glaciers are discovering that water flowing beneath the ice plays a much more complex role than they previously imagined.
Hypoxia increases as climate warms
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 15, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (6) |
0
A new study of Pacific Ocean sediments off the coast of Chile has found that offshore waters experienced systematic oxygen depletion during the rapid warming of the Antarctic following the last "glacial maximum" period 20,000 ...
A unique geography -- and soot and dust -- conspire against Himalayan glaciers
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 15, 2009 |
4 / 5 (2) |
1
"So many disparate elements, both natural and man-made, converge in the Himalayas," said William Lau, a climatologist from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "There's no other place in the ...
New Study Turns Up the Heat on Soot's Role in Himalayan Warming (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 14, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Soot from fire in an unventilated fireplace wafts into a home and settles on the surfaces of floors and furniture. But with a quick fix to the chimney flue and some dusting, it bears no impact ...
Sunshine speeded 1940s Swiss glacier melt: scientists
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 14, 2009 |
5 / 5 (4) |
4
A surge in sunshine more than 60 years ago helped Swiss mountain glaciers melt faster than today, even though warmer average temperatures are being recorded now, Swiss researchers said Monday.
The Meandering Channels of Mars
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 10, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (6) |
5
Sinuous channels on the Martian surface may be evidence of relatively recent rainfall. Researchers plan to test this hypothesis by studying sinuous streams on Earth.
Antarctica served as climatic refuge in Earth's greatest extinction event
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 02, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (10) |
0
A new fossil species suggests that some land animals may have survived the end-Permian extinction by living in cooler climates in Antarctica. Researchers have identified a distant relative of mammals that apparently survived ...
Ancient high-altitude trees grow faster as temperatures rise
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 16, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (11) |
0
PIC=32536:left]Increasing temperatures at high altitudes are fueling the post-1950 growth spurt seen in bristlecone pines, the world's oldest trees, according to new research.
Alberta's hidden valleys offer both resources and danger
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 12, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
Alberta is crisscrossed with hidden glacial valleys that hold both resource treasures and potential danger. University of Alberta researcher Doug Schmitt discovered a 300 metre deep, valley hidden beneath the surface of the ...
Scientists prepare for large-scale glacial floods (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 04, 2009 |
3.4 / 5 (5) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- Surging floods as powerful as the Amazon could hit parts of Europe within decades, according to new research.
'Whitewash' could slow global warming: Peruvian scientist
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 04, 2009 |
1.8 / 5 (10) |
11
A Peruvian scientist has called on his country to help slow the melting of Andean glaciers by daubing white paint on the rock and earth left behind by receding ice so they will absorb less heat.
Life's Ancient Island in the Ice
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 29, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (13) |
3
During the last ice age, massive glaciers covered much of our planet. However, a region of Alaska, Siberia and the Canadian Yukon remained ice-free. This region, known as Beringia, supported unique organisms ...
Glacial melting may release pollutants in the environment
Oct 21, 2009 |
2.2 / 5 (5) |
0
Those pristine-looking Alpine glaciers now melting as global warming sets in may explain the mysterious increase in persistent organic pollutants in sediment from certain lakes since the 1990s, despite decreased ...
Experts warn glaciers in Indian Kashmir melting
Oct 13, 2009 |
3.5 / 5 (4) |
0
(AP) -- Indian Kashmir's glaciers are melting fast because of rising temperatures, threatening the water supply of millions of people in the Himalayan region, a new study by Indian scientists says.
Climate talks resume in Bangkok with deal in doubt
Sep 26, 2009 |
1 / 5 (4) |
2
(AP) -- Two years ago, governments from around the world came together on the island of Bali and agreed to urgently rein in the heat-trapping gases blamed for deadly heat waves, melting glaciers and rising ...
