Geology, Vol. 1 [of 3] : $b Geologic processes and their resultsSalisbury, Rollin D.
Science
Geology, Vol. 1 [of 3] : $b Geologic processes and their results
Salisbury, Rollin D.
Geology
If both the surface on which the ice-sheet develops and its
surroundings be essentially plane, as may happen in high latitudes,
and if the snow- and ice-field be symmetrical in shape, the outward
movement will be approximately equal in all directions, and the area
covered by the spreading ice-field will remain more or less circular.
If the ice-field rests on a steeply inclined surface, like a mountain
slope, the movement becomes one-sided in conformity to the slope. If
the surface, otherwise plane, be affected by valleys parallel to the
direction of movement, the ice in the valleys will be deeper than
that on the divides between them, and its movement stronger. In the
valleys, therefore, the ice will advance farther than elsewhere before
being melted, and the outline of the ice will become lobate, the lobes
occupying the depressions. These general relations are shown in Figs.
224 and 225. If the depressions be wide and shallow, the lobes will be
broad and short (Fig. 226); if the depressions be narrow and deep, the
lobes will be relatively narrow and long. If the snow and ice rest on
a surface consisting chiefly of steep valleys and sharp ridges, as is
common on mountain slopes, the snow and ice are chiefly gathered in the
valleys, and take a linear form.
TYPES OF GLACIERS.
These different forms give rise to different terms. The ice which
spreads with some approach to equality in all directions from a center
is a glacier, is indeed the type of the greatest glaciers, but is
commonly called an _ice-cap_. The same name is applied to any glacier
in which there is movement in all directions from the center, even
though its shape departs widely from a circle. The glacier covering
the larger part of Greenland (Fig. 222) is a good example of a large
ice-cap, and the glaciers on some of the flat-topped peninsular
promontories of the same island are good examples of small ones (Fig.
224). If ice-caps cover a large part of a continent, as some of those
of the past have done, they are often called _continental glaciers_.
[Illustration: +Fig.+ 227.—Characteristic end of a North Greenland
(Bryant) glacier.]
[Illustration: +Fig.+ 228.—The Rhône glacier. (Reid.)]
[Illustration: +Fig.+ 229.—Characteristic end of a North Greenland
glacier. North side of Herbert Island, Inglefield Gulf.]
[Illustration: +Fig.+ 230.—The end of an alpine (Forno, Switzerland)
glacier. (Reid.)]
[Illustration: +Fig.+ 231.—Deploying end of a North Greenland glacier.]
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