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The accumulation zone is found at the highest altitude of the glacier, where accumulation of material is greater than ablation. On a glacier , the accumulation zone is the area above the firn line, where snowfall accumulates and exceeds the losses from ablation , ( melting , evaporation , and sublimation ).
The boundary between the accumulation zone and the ablation zone on glaciers is called the "annual snow line". The glacier region below this snow line was subject to melting in the previous season. The term "orographic snow line" is used to describe the snow boundary on surfaces other than glaciers.
Snow accumulation on ground and in tree branches in Germany Snow blowing across a highway in Canada Spring snow on a mountain in France. Classifications of snow describe and categorize the attributes of snow-generating weather events, including the individual crystals both in the air and on the ground, and the deposited snow pack as it changes over time.
Snowpack is an accumulation of snow that compresses with time and melts seasonally, often at high elevation or high latitude. [1] [2] Snowpacks are an important water resource that feed streams and rivers as they melt, sometimes leading to flooding. Snowpacks provide water to down-slope communities for drinking and agriculture. [3]
When it comes to measuring snow cover on the ground, typically three variables are measured: the snow cover extent (SCE) — the land area covered by snow, snow cover duration (SD) — how long a particular area is covered by snow, and the snow accumulation, often expressed as snow water equivalent (SWE), which expresses how much water the snow ...
This is caused mainly due to a long lasting accumulation period on subpolar glaciers frozen to the ground in the accumulation area. When the stress due to the additional volume in the accumulation area increases, the pressure melting point of the ice at its base may be reached, the basal glacier ice will melt, and the glacier will surge on a ...
Glaciologists subdivide glaciers into glacier accumulation zones, based on the melting and refreezing occurring. [1] [2] These zones include the dry snow zone, in which the ice entirely retains subfreezing temperatures and no melting occurs. Dry snow zones only occur within the interior regions of the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets.
An icefield is an example of glacier structure that covers a relatively large area, and is usually located in mountain terrain. [4] Icefields are quite similar to ice caps; however, their morphology is much more influenced by the underlying mountainous topography.