 What Makes a Glacier Move? "Valley" glaciers commonly start from "mountain" glaciers, ice fields or ice sheets. These glaciers leave the mountain ranges and spill down valleys, looking much like giant tongues. They may be very long and often flow down below the snow line - sometimes even reaching sea level or entering into oceans. They then become "tidewater" glaciers and calve icebergs. Why do they move? Once a mass of compressed ice reaches a certain thickness, usually around 20 meters / 66 feet thick, it becomes so heavy that it begins to change shape and move. The pressure from the sheer bulk of the ice, combined with the pull of gravity, causes the glacier to flow downhill very slowly - creeping along and bending like an ice river. 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.
Click pictures for more information and credits. Library: Arctic, Glaciers, Icebergs, Ice Links: Arctic, Glaciers, Icebergs Maps: Source of Atlantic Icebergs Arctic Maps & Weather Reports |
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DICTIONARY: Just "double-click" any unlinked word on this page for the definition from Merriam-Webster's Student Electronic Dictionary at Word Central. |
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ARCTIC LIBRARY & GLOSSARY: Check this section for an index of the rest of the things you really need to know about the Arctic. |
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ARCTIC MAPS & WEATHER REPORTS: Maps of the Northwest Passage, explorers' routes, iceberg sources, Nunavut, the Arctic by treeline, temperature... |
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ARCTIC LINKS: Even more information! Links to sites related to the Arctic and "Iceberg: the Story of the Throps and the Squallhoots". |
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GUIDE TO ARCTIC SUNRISE & SUNSET: How much sunlight or darkness is there in the Arctic on each day of the year? |
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