Understanding Glaciers: Formation, Types, and Characteristics - Exploring Glaciers: Valley, Piedmont, and Ice Sheets Explained

Glaciers:

Glaciers are a thick mass of ice sheets, which move over the ground under the influence of gravity. They originate on land from the compaction and crystallization of snow. Glaciers form where more and more snow accumulates each year then melts away. They are found chiefly in high altitudes in the arctic regions or at high elevations on the Himalayan mountains above the snow line. The snow line is the lower limit of accumulating snow. Below the snow line, the snow melts in summer.

Valley Glacier:

Valley glaciers originate near the crests of huge mountains and move along the valleys like rivers.

Piedmont Glacier:

At the end of hilly region, a number of valley glaciers unite to form a comparatively thick sheet of ice.Such a compound glacier is called a piedmont glacier.

Ice Sheets:

These are massive accumulations of ice, covering extensive areas. Two such glaciers that exist today are Greenland and Antarctic sheets. The Greenland ice sheet covers an area of about 1.7 million square kilometres and is over 1500 metres thick.