Glacial Ice

Glacier

A glacier is a persistent body of natural ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It slowly flows and deforms under stresses induced by gravity, undergoing both ductile and brittle deformation, and acquiring distinguishing surface features, such as crevasses and seracs. As a glacier moves, it abrades underlying rock and debris to create glacial landforms, such as cirques, moraines, and fjords. Although a glacier may flow into a body of water, and can include ice shelves and ice tongues, it originates only on land and is distinct from the much thinner sea ice and lake ice that form on the surface of freezing bodies of water.

Ice

Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 °C, 32 °F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally occurring crystalline inorganic solid with an ordered structure, ice is considered to be a mineral. Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaque bluish-white color.

glacial

Adjective

1. Of, or relating to glaciers.
2. Very slow.

Noun

1. A glacial period (colloquially known as an ice age).

ice

Symbol

1. ISO 639-2/B language code for Icelandic.

Noun

1. Water in frozen (solid) form.
2. Any frozen volatile chemical, such as ammonia or carbon dioxide.