Glaciers
By Jose Santiago, Aaqil Visram, Tyler Odom
And Eddy Zhou
Definition and origin
● Glaciers are slowly moving masses or rivers of ice
● Formed by the accumulation and compaction of snow on mountains
or near the poles (where the snow doesn’t melt)
● The word “glacier” comes from the French word for ice, glace
Formation of Glaciers
● Glaciers form from the accumulations of snow each winter
● They usually grow in polar or alpine regions because then they don’t melt
in the summer
● The snow compacts into a material called firn, and later on the firm
compacts into glacier ice
● When temperatures drop, glaciers “advance” and when temperatures rise,
glaciers melt and “retreat”
● Crystals reach many inches in length after long periods of time
● Also, the spaces of air become very miniscule
Types of Glaciers
● Continental
○ Dome shaped glacier
○ Migrates from a central point
○ Largely Unaffected by rough terrain
● Alpine
○ Flows down valleys
● Rock
○ Formed on the walls of steep valleys
○ Made of rock and ice
○ Made when debris, rock, and ground fall from the walls of a valley, into the ice.
● There are more than just these three types, but most of them fall under the same
category as these
Features of a glacier
● Terminus
○ It is the end of the glacier and is also known as glacier toe or
snout
● Crevasses
○ Deep cracks in ice that are caused by ice moving over rocky biomes
● Ogives
○ Alternating strands of light and dark ice. They form on icebergs and
they form rigid arcs of ice on the ground
● Icefalls
○ They happen when glaciers fall over steep or inclined drop. It
becomes crevassed.
● Glacier Caves
○ They form within the glacier. They take the form of bedrock caves
Movement of Glaciers
● Glaciers move according to many different factors
○ Geography for example allows the glacier to advance or retreat due to
the valleys and plains which allow the glacier to either advance, fan
out, or change direction.
○ Climate also affects glacial movement because it either allows the
build up or contraction of glaciers thus allowing the advancement or
retreat of glaciers. For example, a glaciers would advance in a cold,
snowy climate and would retreat due to a warm, dry climate.
○ Melting ice also causes movement in a glacier
Shapes from Glacial Movement
● Fjords
○ Glacial troughs filled with seawater
● Cirques
○ Steep-walled bowl-shaped landform in a valley that is cut by a glacier
● Aretes
○ Ridge formed from Cirques
● Horn
○ Elevated, sharp ridge formed between more than two cirques
● Esker
○ Hill left behind after a glacier melts, usually happens when there was a
river near the glacier
● Kettle
○ A depression that comes as a result of the melting of a large portion of
ice that broke off from a glacier and buried in outwash
● Striation
○ The result of glaciers dragging rocks across bedrock, causing grooves in
the bedrock
● Moraine
○ Landform that consists of glacial till. Different types are lateral,
medial, terminal, and ground moraines.
Ice Ages
● An ice age is a long period that involves a decrease in the temperature of
Earth’s surface temperature, resulting in the presence or expansion of
polar ice sheets and glaciers
● There were a total of 5 ice ages during the history of this planet.
● The most recent one was around 20,000 years ago
Relevance to Calgary
● The previous presence of glaciers in
Calgary has left us with many erratics
in or near the city
● The most famous of these erratics is
called “Big Rock” which is less that 1
hour away from Calgary
● Nose Hill Park in Calgary contains
sediment and till left behind from
Glaciers
● There are is a glacier near Calgary; the
Columbia Icefield
● Calgary was covered in continental
glaciers during the previous ice age
Global warming
● Melting/retreating glaciers
● Rising Oceans; as the glaciers melt, the sea level rises
● This leads to flooding of low-lying cities such as Venice
● Glaciers can either shrink or disappear completely
● When permafrost thaws, it causes the ground level to
decrease
miscellaneous/Fun Facts
● 10% of land area on Earth is covered by glacial ice.
● Glaciers store around ¾ of the Earth’s freshwater
● Glacial ice crystals are able to grow around the size of
baseballs
● The world experienced a “Little Ice Age” between the 17th and
19th centuries, where temperatures allowed some glaciers to
advance
● There are around 100,000 glaciers in Alaska
Creativity
Still I fear
You have little
understanding
For how I really feel
Tip of the iceberg?
You can't even comprehend
the glacier underneath Giant
Low temperatures
Advancing
Cold
Icy
Exposed
Rimy
Works Cited
1. https://nsidc.org/
2. Science Focus 8
3. http://www.britannica.com/science/glacier
4. https://www3.epa.
gov/climatechange/kids/impacts/signs/glaciers.html
5. http://environment.nationalgeographic.
com/environment/global-warming/big-thaw/
