Ice cap

Ice cap

[
Vatnajökull, Iceland]

An ice cap is an ice mass that covers less than 50 000 km² of land area (usually covering a highland area). Masses of ice covering more than 50 000 km² are termed an ice sheet. cite book
last = Benn
first = Douglas
authorlink =
coauthors = David Evans
title = Glaciers and Glaciation
year = 1998
publisher = Arnold
location = London
isbn = 0-340-58431-9
ISBN status = May be invalid - please double check ] cite book
last = Bennett
first = Matthew
authorlink =
coauthors = Neil Glasser
title = Glacial Geology: Ice Sheets and Landforms
year = 1996
publisher = John Wiley and Sons Ltd.
location = Chichester, England
isbn = 0-471-96345-3
ISBN status = May be invalid - please double check]

Ice caps are not constrained by topographical features (i.e., they will lie over the top of mountains) but their "dome" is usually centred around the highest point of a massif. Ice flows away from this high point (the ice divide) towards the ice cap's periphery.

Vatnajökull is an example of an ice cap in Iceland. [cite journal
last =Flowers
first = Gwenn E.
coauthors = Shawn J. Marshall, Helgi Bjŏrnsson and Garry K. C. Clarke
title =Sensitivity of Vatnajŏkull ice cap hydrology and dynamics to climate warming over the next 2 centuries
journal = Journal of Geophysical Research
volume = 110
pages = F02011
publisher =
date = 2005
url = http://www.eos.ubc.ca/research/glaciology/research/Publications/FlowersMarshallBjornssonClarke(JGR-2005).pdf
doi = 10.1029/2004JF000200
accessdate = 2007-05-31]

References

efit

ee also

* Polar ice cap
* Ice shelf
* Glacier
* Icefield


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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • ice cap — n. a dome shaped mass of glacial ice that spreads slowly out in all directions from a center * * * …   Universalium

  • ice cap — n an area of thick ice that permanently covers the North and South Poles …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • ice cap — ice ,cap noun count a large area of ice that covers the land and ocean around the North or South Pole …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • ice cap — ► NOUN ▪ a permanent covering of ice over a large area, especially on the polar region of a planet …   English terms dictionary

  • ice cap — n. a dome shaped mass of glacial ice that spreads slowly out in all directions from a center …   English World dictionary

  • Ice-Cap —   [dt. »Eiskappe«] die, ältere, selten benutzte Form eines aktiven Kühlers für Prozessoren. Sie ist im Wesentlichen ein Peltier Kühler und wird mit ihrer kühlenden Seite auf den Prozessor geklebt. Ein Lüfter an ihrer Oberseite unterstützt die… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • ice cap — noun a mass of ice and snow that permanently covers a large area of land (e.g., the polar regions or a mountain peak) • Syn: ↑icecap • Hypernyms: ↑ice mass * * * noun 1. : an ice bag shaped to be fitted to the head 2 …   Useful english dictionary

  • ice cap — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms ice cap : singular ice cap plural ice caps a large area of ice that covers the land and sea around the North or South Pole …   English dictionary

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