Looking for an Adventurous Vacation? Visit a Glacier

Glaciers are rivers of ice that formed long ago into a large mass of ice that can melt into glacial water. Glacier water can be bottled and sold in plastic bottles for drinking. Glaciers form on land and move in response to gravity yet they are somewhat permanent bodies of ice and compacted snow. Glaciers are deep and heavy enough to flow under there own weight. . Glaciers can last a long time and they are the largest reservoir of freshwater on earth. Only to oceans that cover the earth hold more water the glaciers. You can find glaciers on every continent and you can see glacier activity in the geologic formations.

Glaciers formed a lot of our earth's surface like moraines were formed when glaciers transported rocks and debris and deposited them. U-shaped valleys were cut out by moving glaciers and were well defined and steeper then other valleys. The area where the glacier has or is melting into water is called the glacial fringe and a Corries or cirques is what forms at the head of the glacier. Long snake like ridges that form by streambeds underneath a glacier is known as an esker. At the end or foot of glaciers the deposition or ablation zone, it is the terminal end of the glacier. More ice is lost through the melting process here than is gained from snowfall. And where the glacier thins to nothing is called the ice front.

The upper part of the glacier that receives most of the snowfall is called the accumulation zone and it accounts for 60-70 percent of the surface area and the depth of the glacier. The ice here exerts enough downward force to deeply erode rock. After a glacier melts away a bowl shaped depression called a cirque is all that remains of the glacier. The area where the accumulation zone and the deposition zones meet is called the equilibrium line. At the equilibrium line and amount of new snow gained is equal to the amount of ice the glacier losses. The downward erosion force of the glacier and the deposited sediments cancel each other out. Lateral forces cause glaciers to convert to a v -shaped river valley into a u- shaped glacier valley.

And arête is a narrow ridge or crest with a sharp edge and a arête can be formed by two colliding glaciers. A glacial tongue can cut and divide through erosion and it can polish adjacent valleys. If three or more arête's met each other they can create pyramid-like peaks that are sometimes called horns if they are very steep.

You can find many glaciers in the north American continent. Glacier National Park is named after the glaciers that grace the park. Glacier National Park has some amazing views and spots where you can go to touch a glacier. And you can find glaciers on the Bear Tooth road on the north east boundary of Yellowstone National Park. And of course you can find many glaciers in Alaska even on the south side of Anchorage you can find some very nice big glaciers to walk around and touch. You may think why would I want to go look at a big piece of ice? Seeing a glacier is an amazing experience. A glacier is much more then a big piece of ice. You can see a river of melting glacier water and the sediments that are in it. The water from a glacier is cool and clean and pure. It is good for humans to drink if it is purchased in a plastic or glass bottle.

If you ever get a chance to go see a glacier you will find it to be amazing in it's blue clarity and enormity. A glacier is a powerful experience.