What is a flow of ice?

What is a flow of ice?

A glacier is a large accumulation of many years of snow, transformed into ice. This solid crystalline material deforms (changes) and moves. Glaciers, also known as “rivers of ice,” actually flow. Gravity is the cause of glacier motion; the ice slowly flows and deforms (changes) in response to gravity.

Is it ice floe or ice flow?

A floe is a floating sheet of ice. The terms floe and ice floe are interchangeable. A floe may occur as a piece of ice drifting on the sea, in a river, or down a stream melting off a glacier. Flow comes from the Old English flowan, meaning to flow, stream, issue, become liquid, melt, abound, overflow.

How is ice flow formed?

The fallen snow compresses over many years (at a rate that depends on temperature and wetness) into ice. A glacier may also gain mass from the refreezing of meltwater at its base. As they grow, they thicken and stack on top of one another, eventually forming ice floes.

What are large masses of flowing ice called?

A glacier is a huge mass of ice that moves slowly over land. The term “glacier” comes from the French word glace (glah-SAY), which means ice. Glaciers are often called “rivers of ice.”

What is the difference between a glacier and an ice stream?

An ice stream is a region of fast-moving ice within an ice sheet. It is a type of glacier, a body of ice that moves under its own weight.

What is intergranular flow?

Intergranular flow- individual ice crystals deform and move 2. Laminar flow- movement of layers within the glacier.

What does an ice floe look like?

An ice floe is a large pack of floating ice often defined as a flat piece at least 20 m across at its widest point, and up to more than 10 km across. They may cause ice jams on freshwater rivers, and in the open ocean may damage the hulls of ships.

Where can you find a ice floe?

> There are large areas in the polar regions where water occurs predominantly in its frozen state. It either falls as snow to contribute to the growth of ice sheets and glaciers, or it drifts on the sea as ice floes.

Why are ice floes important?

The polar regions are covered by a thin sheet of sea ice – frozen water that forms out of the same ocean water it floats on. The distribution and size of these floes is vitally important for understanding how the sea ice will interact with its environment in the future.

What are the 4 forms of ice?

Ice on lakes is generally four types: primary, secondary, superimposed and agglomerate. Primary ice forms first. Secondary ice forms below the primary ice in a direction parallel to the direction of the heat flow.

What is the definition of ice flow?

ice floe (plural ice floes) Any type of sea ice not attached to land, drift ice. An ice dam (ice jam), a blockage of ice in a river starting with an ice floe in the river. An ice stream (ice flow), a type of fast moving glacier.

What causes ice to flow in a glacier?

Glaciers, also known as “rivers of ice,” actually flow. Gravity is the cause of glacier motion; the ice slowly flows and deforms (changes) in response to gravity. A glacier molds itself to the land and also molds the land as it creeps down the valley.

How does ice in a glacier flow?

Glacial ice flows away from the zone of accumulation when the thick ice deforms plastically under its own weight. In a valley glacier the ice flows downslope from the zone of accumulation, while for a continental glacier the ice flows laterally outward and away from the zone of accumulation.