engaging and somewhat amusing

academic; scholarly

sober and depressing

optimistic

Snow and pressure create glaciers

When snow piles up, it compresses the underlying layers of snow, finally turning it unto glacier ice

We use the term "calve off' to indicate that part of the glacier breaks off.

Glaciers can occur in many places, not only in the frozen North.

It's amazing how quickly some glaciers can move. It took one glacier in the Himalayas only three months to cover 7 miles. Geothermal energy is one of the factors that causes melting and creates a lubricating effect.

Pressure and geothermal energy cause glaciers to melt. This creates a film of water between the glacier and the rock. With the pull of gravity, the glacier slides down an incline. On a flat surface, it spreads in all directions.

Some glaciers move through basal sliding. Others move be spreading across a flat surface. I found this fact amazing, since I didn't think glacier moved.

Glaciers are not still. They move. And they can move quite fast. Most of the time, though, they move just inches a day.