INTRODUCTION:
DEFINITION:
A GLACIER is a slowly moving mass or river of ice. It has a tremendous capacity for erosion and transport of materials. It is formed by the accumulation and compaction of snow in the mountains or near the poles. It´s also a geological agent that produce characteristic landforms.
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https://scitechdaily.com/images/Ice-Calving-Massive-Glacier.jpg
GLACIER ICE FORMATION:
The raw material of the glacier is snow. It is It is necessary that more snow falls in winter than
the snow that can melt in summer.
Snow turns into glacial ice
following the following process:
/ Temperature has to be below the freezing point.
/ The air infiltrates between the ice crystals. Its ends evaporate and water vapor condenses in the center. For this reason, snowflakes become smaller, thicker and more spherical, converting porous snow into denser granular recrystallized snow called FIRN.
/ As more snow falls, the upper layers press on the lower ones and compact the ice grains located in depth.
/ When the thickness of the ice and snow exceeds 50 meters, the weight fuses the snow into a solid mass of interlocking ice crystals, giving rise to GLACIAL ICE.
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