- Glacier Quick Facts | National Snow and Ice Data Center
The largest glacier, by area, is the Seller Glacier on the Antarctic Peninsula, measuring over 7,000 square kilometers (2,700 square miles) The largest ice crystals that make up a glacier can be as large as apples However, there are many other ice masses on Earth that are much larger than the largest glacier
- Glaciers - National Snow and Ice Data Center
What is a glacier? A glacier is an accumulation of ice and snow that slowly flows over land At higher elevations, more snow typically falls than melts, adding to its mass Eventually, the surplus of built-up ice begins to flow downhill At lower elevations, there is usually a higher rate of melt or icebergs break off that removes ice mass
- Science of Glaciers - National Snow and Ice Data Center
The Taylor Glacier is an Antarctic glacier about 54 kilometers (34 miles) long, flowing from the plateau of Victoria Land into the western end of Taylor Valley — Credit: Eli Duke Flickr Valley commonly originate from mountain glaciers or icefields, these glaciers spill down valleys, looking much like giant tongues
- Why Glaciers Matter - National Snow and Ice Data Center
Glacier melt delivers nutrients into lakes, rivers, and oceans Those nutrients can drive blooms of phytoplankton—the base of aquatic and marine food chains Meanwhile, gradual glacier melt sustains stream habitats for plants and animals So, glaciers often have an indirect impact on wildlife and fisheries
- Learn - National Snow and Ice Data Center
Quick facts, basic science, and information about snow, ice, and why the cryosphere matters The cryosphere includes all of the snow and ice-covered regions across the planet
- Seeking the world’s largest glaciers - National Snow and Ice Data Center
Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier, which is widely thought to be the largest glacier in the world, did not make the top three from either data set This is because, according to the GLIMS definition of a glacier, Pine Island Glacier is not a true glacier at all—it is an ice stream flowing into the Amundsen Sea faster than the rest of the
- Data set update: GLIMS Glacier Database, Version 1
Additional changes include reclassifying some glaciers as extinct, and updating some rock outcrops in the northeast Antarctic Peninsula to glacier outlines You can find more detailed information about these changes in the GLIMS Glacier Database V1 Change Log, which is located in the General Resources section on the data set's landing page
- glacier - National Snow and Ice Data Center
glacier a mass of ice that originates on land, usually having an area larger than one tenth of a square kilometer; many believe that a glacier must show some type of movement; others believe that a glacier can show evidence of past or present movement
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