Glaciers
By,
Olivia Grzywinski
Vivienne Dotoli
Leo Hotsko
and Michael Fisher
Introduction
• Like great rivers of ice, glaciers
have sculpted mountains and
carved out valleys.
• They continue to flow and shape
the landscape in many places
today.
Glacier Formation
• It takes hundreds or even
thousands of years to form.
• They form by accumulating
snow packing into ice.
• Then, a large mass of slowly
moving ice, called a glacier
forms.
Weathering and Erosion
Weathering
Erosion
• A glacier is nothing more
than a frozen river still
moving. It might only move an
inch or two per year, but it
still moves.
• The melted water from
beneath the glaciers seeps
into cracks of rock and
freezes. As the freezing
water expands, chunks of
rock break loose and become
frozen into the bottom and
sides of the glaciers.
• The ice will erode the
ground and rock below it
faster
and
more
aggressively than if it was
just water.
• This is because glaciers
also pick up and move the
rocks that they run over
and this gravel (chunks of
rock) can carve mountains
down and cut valleys miles
deep.
Bibliography
Special thanks to the websites we used.
http://nsidc.org/cryosphere/glaciers
http://wiki.answers.com
Questions
• How many years does it take to form a
glacier?
• Describe a glacier.
• Glaciers might only move _____ inches
or _____ inches per year.