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📘 A glacier is ice flowing downhill

A glacier moves because gravity acts on a thick mass of ice resting on a sloping bed.

3
lessons
~15 min
to learn
Adults
level
Start the course →

What you’ll learn

  1. Why ice flowsExplain gravity-driven flow, internal deformation, basal sliding, and velocity profiles.Thick ice deforms and may slide on its bed; speed varies across the glacier cross-section.
  2. Balance and waterConnect mass balance, meltwater routing, and crevasse formation.Snow gain and melt loss set terminus behavior; water and stretching open surface cracks.
  3. Landscape and proofDescribe glacial erosion, terminus response, and how motion is measured.Basal debris scrapes rock; the front reflects past climate; stakes and satellites track flow.

Questions this course answers

What drives a glacier downhill?

Gravity makes ice deform and move toward lower elevations.

What is basal sliding?

Basal sliding is motion at the ice-bed interface.

What does a negative mass balance mean?

A negative balance means ablation exceeds accumulation.

Why do crevasses form?

Tensile stress opens fractures in brittle upper ice.

Does a retreating terminus mean the glacier flows backward?

Retreat describes the front's position, not reversal of ice flow.

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