Questions tagged [glaciology]

The [glaciology] tag concerns all forms of snow and ice on Earth and in space. And the marks left by ancient glaciers.

The tag concerns all forms of ice and snow, frozen water, on earth or in space. The field of glaciology covers aspects such as materials science, chemistry, physics and climatology to understand the behaviour, composition, processes and existence of snow and ice. The International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS) for example, provide five areas of snow and ice research to cover the field Snow and Avalanches, Glaciers and Ice sheets, Marine and Freshwater Ice, Cryosphere, Atmosphere and Climate, Planetary and other Ices of the Solar System,

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What does "glacier collapse" mean?

CNN's Mont Blanc glacier could collapse at any moment, Italy warns says: A staggering 250,000 cubic meters (8.8 million cubic feet) of ice could break away from the Planpincieux glacier on the Grandes Jorasses mountain in the Mont Blanc massif,…
uhoh
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Is PhD the only way to study glaciers?

I am wondering if there are alternative ways to study glaciers apart from obtaining a PhD. I would be glad to build a career around glaciology, however, with the issues in regards to my PhD, a new Ph.D. with a supportive research group or a new…
kc_nul
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Typical values of Glen flow law for glaciers?

The Glen flow law for glaciers is a common relationship linking stress to strain. At its simplest, $\Sigma = k\tau^n$ where $\tau$ is stress, $\Sigma$ is strain, and $n$ is roughly 3. I understand that $k$ depends on temperature and material…
foobarbecue
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How to calculate main aspect of a glacier?

Aspect is based upon the direction of flowline axis of the glacier. is flowline axis same as ice flow direction? What is aspect of a mountain (say in the tropics). Would a glacier have aspect different from the aspect of the mountain underlying the…
kc_nul
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What behaviour does an ice sheet exhibit in crossing a cliff?

I've not come up against clear explanations when trying to think about a situation where an ice sheet is advancing and comes up against a cliff. What happens next? How does the ice sheet cross the cliff? Does the base get stuck? Does it create some…
gktscrk
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