Thursday, January 1, 2009

Glaciers and sea ice

 
... by far the greatest mass of ice on Earth is the Antarctic Ice Sheet, which reaches a thickness of nearly 5 km.  This quote is from the Swiss website Glaciers of the World (http://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/earth_icy_planet/glaciers08-en.html) -- and who should know more about glaciers than the Swiss?  It is an informative site with very good photos and a page dedicated entirely to Antarctic glaciers.  I became totally intimidated trying to say anything intelligent about glaciers in this post, so I will leave the photos to speak for themselves. 



 
Brash ice, icebergs, and glacier




A stunning "tidewater" glacier



A "cirque" glacier in Drygalski Fjord 




A "piedmont" glacier



A "hanging" glacier with small streams running out




 "Tidewater" glacier near Port Lockroy




Brash ice

 Accumulation of floating ice made up of fragments not more than 2 cm across; the wreckage of other forms of ice. (www.aspect.aq/brashice.html) from Antarctic Sea Ice Processes and Climate (ASPeCT)




A more dense accumulation...





...brash ice comes in many forms



2 comments:

  1. I see lots of ice, but where's the snow? Maybe this blog should be called "Ice and Penguins." Just kidding, awesome pictures!

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