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In glaciology, an ice sheet, also known as a continental glacier, [ 2 ] is a mass of glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than 50,000 km 2 (19,000 sq mi). [ 3 ] The only current ice sheets are the Antarctic ice sheet and the Greenland ice sheet. Ice sheets are bigger than ice shelves or alpine glaciers.
Alpine glaciers form on the crests and slopes of mountains. A glacier that fills a valley is called a valley glacier, or alternatively, an alpine glacier or mountain glacier. [9] A large body of glacial ice astride a mountain, mountain range, or volcano is termed an ice cap or ice field. [10]
Ice field. An ice field (also spelled icefield) is a mass of interconnected valley glaciers (also called mountain glaciers or alpine glaciers) on a mountain mass with protruding rock ridges or summits. [1] They are often found in the colder climates and higher altitudes of the world where there is sufficient precipitation for them to form.
Glacier morphology, or the form a glacier takes, is influenced by temperature, precipitation, topography, and other factors. [1] The goal of glacial morphology is to gain a better understanding of glaciated landscapes and the way they are shaped. [2] Types of glaciers can range from massive ice sheets, such as the Greenland ice sheet, to small ...
Aletsch Glacier. Switzerland. The largest Alpine glacier is almost as big of a tourist draw as the nearby Matterhorn, and it holds a staggering 11 billion tons of ice. The region draws not just ...
Glaciology (from Latin glacies 'frost, ice' and Ancient Greek λόγος (logos) 'subject matter'; lit. 'study of ice') is the scientific study of glaciers, or, more generally, ice and natural phenomena that involve ice. Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology ...
Glacial landforms are landforms created by the action of glaciers. Most of today's glacial landforms were created by the movement of large ice sheets during the Quaternary glaciations. Some areas, like Fennoscandia and the southern Andes, have extensive occurrences of glacial landforms; other areas, such as the Sahara, display rare and very old ...
The Wisconsin glaciation extended from about 75,000 to 11,000 years ago, between the Sangamonian Stage and the current interglacial, the Holocene. The maximum ice extent occurred about 25,000–21,000 years ago during the last glacial maximum, also known as the Late Wisconsin in North America. The Last Glacial Period caused a much lower global ...