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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 ).
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.
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.
Accumulation zone – where the formation of ice is faster than its removal. Ablation (or wastage) zone – when the sum of melting, calving , and evaporation (sublimation) is greater than the amount of snow added each year.
The accumulation zone can be subdivided based on its melt conditions. The dry snow zone is a region where no melt occurs, even in the summer, and the snowpack remains dry. The percolation zone is an area with some surface melt, causing meltwater to percolate into the snowpack. This zone is often marked by refrozen ice lenses, glands, and layers ...
Snow Depth-This is a measurement from the snow surface to the ground in meters. It is commonly does over a large time span using immobile graduated stakes. Snow Water Equivalency- A measuring tool which represents the vertical depth of water that would accumulate in an area, if all the snow and ice were melted in that given area.
Transverse crevasses, Chugach State Park, Alaska A crevasse is a deep crack that forms in a glacier or ice sheet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pieces above a plastic substrate have different rates of movement.
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]