What is "glacier"

Glacier \Gla"cier\, n. [F. glacier, fr. glace ice, L. glacies.] An immense field or stream of ice, formed in the region of perpetual snow, and moving slowly down a mountain slope or valley, as in the Alps, or over an extended area, as in Greenland.

Note: The mass of compacted snow forming the upper part of a glacier is called the firn, or n['e]v['e]; the glacier proper consist of solid ice, deeply crevassed where broken up by irregularities in the slope or direction of its path. A glacier usually carries with it accumulations of stones and dirt called moraines, which are designated, according to their position, as lateral, medial, or terminal (see Moraine). The common rate of flow of the Alpine glaciers is from ten to twenty inches per day in summer, and about half that in winter.

Glacier theory (Geol.), the theory that large parts of the frigid and temperate zones were covered with ice during the glacial, or ice, period, and that, by the agency of this ice, the loose materials on the earth's surface, called drift or diluvium, were transported and accumulated.

1744, from French glacier, from Savoy dialect glacière "moving mass of ice," from Old French glace "ice," from Vulgar Latin glacia (source also of Old Provençal glassa, Italian ghiaccia), from Latin glacies (see glacial).

n. (context geology English) A large body of ice which flows under its own mass, usually downhill.

n. a slowly moving mass of ice

Raymond M. Lloyd (born May 13, 1964) is an American martial artist, professional wrestler, and actor. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling from 1996 to 1999 under the ring name Glacier.

A glacier is a geological formation of ice.

Glacier may also refer to:

Glacier (styled as GLACIER) is a visual kei rock band from Okinawa, Japan. Makoto, Nao and Aki have been friends since they were elementary schoolchildren. The three members started the band in Okinawa. They released a CD single Nangoku Shōjo from a Japanese record label Crown Records on 23 July 2008.

Glacier is a Bessie Awards-nominated dance work by contemporary choreographer Liz Gerring.

A glacier ( or ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight; it forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation (melting and sublimation) over many years, often centuries. Glaciers slowly deform and flow due to stresses induced by their weight, creating crevasses, seracs, and other distinguishing features. They also abrade rock and debris from their substrate to create landforms such as cirques and moraines. Glaciers form only on land and are distinct from the much thinner sea ice and lake ice that form on the surface of bodies of water.

On Earth, 99% of glacial ice is contained within vast ice sheets in the polar regions, but glaciers may be found in mountain ranges on every continent except Australia, and on a few high-latitude oceanic islands. Between 35°N and 35°S, glaciers occur only in the Himalayas, Andes, Rocky Mountains, a few high mountains in East Africa, Mexico, New Guinea and on Zard Kuh in Iran. Glaciers cover about 10 percent of Earth's land surface. Continental glaciers cover nearly or about 98 percent of Antarctica's , with an average thickness of . Greenland and Patagonia also have huge expanses of continental glaciers.

Glacial ice is the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth. Many glaciers from temperate, alpine and seasonal polar climates store water as ice during the colder seasons and release it later in the form of meltwater as warmer summer temperatures cause the glacier to melt, creating a water source that is especially important for plants, animals and human uses when other sources may be scant. Within high altitude and Antarctic environments, the seasonal temperature difference is often not sufficient to release meltwater.

Because glacial mass is affected by long-term climactic changes, e.g., precipitation, mean temperature, and cloud cover, glacial mass changes are considered among the most sensitive indicators of climate change and are a major source of variations in sea level.

A large piece of compressed ice, or a glacier, appears blue as large quantities of water appear blue. This is because water molecules absorb other colors more efficiently than blue. The other reason for the blue color of glaciers is the lack of air bubbles. Air bubbles, which give a white color to ice, are squeezed out by pressure increasing the density of the created ice.

GLACIER (General Laboratory Active Cryogenic ISS Experiment Refrigerator) was designed and developed by University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Center for Biophysical Sciences and Engineering (CBSE) for NASA Cold Stowage. Glacier was originally designed for use on board the Space Shuttle, but is now used for storing scientific samples on ISS in the EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) rack, and transporting samples to/from orbit via the Spacex Dragon (spacecraft) or Cygnus (spacecraft). GLACIER is a double middeck locker equivalent payload designed to provide thermal control between +4 °C and -160 °C.