Glacier

s
Prepared By:
Engr. Waseem Ali Khan

WHAT ARE
GLACIERS?

Glaciers
are
large
persistent body of ice
that forms where the
accumulation
of
snow
exceeds
its
ablation
(melting and sublimation)
over many years.

HOW IS IT

FORMED?

Glaciers form when, over glacie

many
snow
ice falls each year
years more snow
rs
than melts. As a result, a deep
layer
of
compacted
snow
accumulates. This layer of snow
becomes compressed into a
thick sheet of ice.

HOW DOES
IT

MOVE?

The sheer weight of a thick layer

of ice and the fact that it deforms
as
a
"plastic"
material,
combined
with
gravity's
influence, causes glaciers to flow
very slowly. Movement along the
underside of a glacier is slower
than movement at the top due to
the friction created as it slides
along the ground's surface.

WHERE IS IT

LOCATED?

Approximate Worldwide Area Covered by Glaciers square kilometers)

Antarctica

Greenland
Canada
Central Asia
Russia
United States
China and Tibet
South America
Iceland
Scandinavia
Alps
New Zealand
Mexico
Indonesia
Africa

11,965,000
without iceshelves and ice
rises)
1,784,000
200,000
109,000
82,000
75,000 including Alaska)
33,000
25,000
11,260
2,909
2,900
1,159
11
7.5
10

Total glacier
coverage is
nearly
15,000,000
square
kilometers, or
a little less
than the total
area of the
South
American
continent. The
numbers listed
do not include
smaller
glaciated polar
islands or
other small
glaciated
areas, which is
why they do

TYPES
OF
GLACIERS

Ice Sheets
-enormous

continental masses
of glacial ice and
snow
expanding
over 50,000 square
kilometers

Ice Shelves
- occur when ice
sheets extend over
the sea, and float
on the water. In
thickness
they
range from a few
hundred meters to
over 1000 meters

Ice Caps
ice
sheets, covering less
than 50,000 square
kilometers.
They
form primarily in
polar and sub-polar
regions
that
are
relatively flat and
high in elevation.

Ice Streams &

Outlet Glaciers

-miniature

-channelized
glaciers that flow
more rapidly than
the
surrounding
body of ice

Ice fields
- similar to ice caps,
except that their
flow is influenced
by the underlying
topography,
and
they are typically
smaller than ice
caps.

Mountain Glaciers

- develop in high
mountainous
regions,
often
flowing out of ice
fields that span
several peaks or
even a mountain
range.

Valley Glaciers
-commonly originating
from mountain glaciers
or ice fields, these
glaciers
spill
down
valleys, looking much
like giant tongues.
-may be very long,
often flowing down
beyond the snow line,
sometimes
reaching
sea level.

Piedmont Glaciers

-occur
when
steep
valley
glaciers spill into
relatively
flat
plains,
where
they spread out
into
bulb-like
lobes.

Cirque
Glaciers
-found high on
mountainsides
and tend to be
wide rather than
long.
-named for the
bowl-like hollows
they occupy.

Hanging Glaciers

-also called ice

aprons, these
glaciers cling
to
steep
mountainsides.

Tidewater
Glaciers
-valley glaciers that
flow far enough to
reach out into the
sea.
-responsible
forcalvingnumerous
small icebergs.

HOW DO
GLACIERS

AFFECT
LAND?

Glacial
Erosion
Formation of
Glacial
Landforms

HOW DO
GLACIERS

AFFECT
PEOPLE?

provides drinking
water

irrigates crops
help generate
Hydroelectric
Power

ARE
GLACIERS

DANGERO

floods
avalanches
threat of icebergs