- Glacier terminus
A glacier terminus, or snout, is the end of a
glacier at any given point in time. Although glaciers seem motionless to the observer, in reality glaciers are in endless motion and the glacier terminus is always either advancing or retreating. The location of the terminus is often directly related toglacier mass balance , which is based on the amount of snowfall which occurs in theaccumulation zone of a glacier, as compared to the amount that is melted in theablation zone . The position of a glacier terminus is also impacted by localized or regional temperature change over time. [cite web
year=
month=
url=http://nsidc.org/glaciers/gallery/terminus.html
title=All About Glaciers - Glacier Terminus
publisher=National Snow and Ice Data Center
accessdate=2007-11-25 ]Tracking
Tracking the change in location of a glacier terminus is a method of monitoring a glacier's movement. The end of the glacier terminus is measured from a fixed position in neighboring
bedrock periodically over time. The difference in location of a glacier terminus as measured from this fixed position at different time intervals provides a record of the glacier's change. A similar way of tracking glacier change is comparing photographs of the glacier's position at different times. [cite web
url=http://www.glaciers.pdx.edu/MRNP/Res00.html
title=Techniques for studying glacier change
publisher=
accessdate=2007-03-21]The form of a glacier terminus is determined by many factors. If the glacier is retreating, it is usually mildly sloping in form because a melting glacier tends to assume this shape. But there are many conditions that alter this typical shape, including the presence of thermal fields and various stresses that cause cracking and melting feedback resulting in glacial calving and other diverse forms. [cite web
url=http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/Glaciers/glacier_terminology.html
title= Glossary of Selected Glacier and Related Terminology
publisher=USGS
accessdate=2007-11-25]The photograph above shows the
glacial lakes formed by the retreating glacial termini on the surface of the debris-covered glaciers over the last several decades in the Bhutan-Himalaya region.ee also
*
terminal moraine
*Boulder Glacier
*Mendenhall Glacier
*Perito Moreno Glacier Notes
External links
* [http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1216/glaciertypes/glaciertypes.html Types of Glaciers]
* [http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002100/a002101/ Iceland Glacier Recession 1973 to 2000, Glacier Terminus contrast emphasized]
* [http://www.nichols.edu/departments/glacier/juneau%20icefield.htm Terminus Behavior of Juneau Icefield Glaciers, 1948-2005]
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