Glaciers
A summary of the main themes covered
Learning Goals
In this module, you will:
- learn how glaciers form naturally
- identify how glaciers modify landscapes
- explain the impact of glaciation on regulating climate and sea levels
Glaciers 101
Glaciers exist in many parts of the world and can impact us in the low country, even though they are so far away. Melting glaciers impact ocean currents, sea levels, and global climate. Below is a brief introduction to glaciers by National Geographic.
Climate 101: Glaciers | National Geographic
Glaciers in the World
Glaciated Landscapes
Some dramatic landscapes can be seen around the world and all of them have shaped by active weathering. Below are some examples.
Kenai Fjord
It is an incredible national park located on Kenai Peninsula in south-central Alaska. It is home to many mountain glaciers that calve off the edge into the Pacific Ocean. The fjords are U-shaped valleys carved by the eroding action of advancing and retreating glaciers. When glaciers retreat, sea levels rise and flood the U-shaped valleys. There are many such fjords in other parts of the world - most within the Arctic Circle.
Location of Kenai National Park in southern Alaska.
Glacier National Park
Another incredible national park nestled within the Rocky Mountains of the US and Canada. The many glaciers that were present over thousands of years have mostly melted away, but they leave behind an incredible landscape and ecosystems.
Location of the Glacier National Park at the State of Montana and Canada border.
Himalaya
The Himalayan mountain ranges are the tallest mountain ranges in the world and the largest concentration of mountain glaciers. This region is often referred to as the third pole. These melting glaciers are an important source of some of the most important river systems in south and southeast Asia. More than a billion people rely on these river systems. The melting glaciers also leave alpine lakes, moraines, rubble, and massive U-shaped valleys.
Location of Mt. Everest in the Himalaya along the border of Nepal and Tibet.
Greenland Ice Sheet
Approximately 80% of Greenland (or 1.7 million sq. km) is covered by a 2-3 km-thick (average) ice sheet. This ice sheet is the second-largest ice sheet outside of Antarctica. The ice sheet melting is accelerating alarming many climate scientists around the world. The positive feedback cycle is caused by melting ice and results in accelerated melting, which can result in water held in Greenland melting rapidly. If the Greenland ice sheet melts completely, oceans will rise by approximately 7 m (24 ft). Most coastal cities worldwide (including many along the entire US eastern seaboard) will completely drown.
Greenland ice sheet
Antarctica
Our southernmost continent is also home to the most giant ice sheet, which covers about 14.2 million sq. km. The average thickness of this ice sheet is 1.9 km. The extreme environment here contains 80% of the world's freshwater. The ice sheet holds enough water to raise the oceans by 60 m (200 ft) - imagine where the world's coastlines would be!
Antarctica and South Pole.
Ice Age Floods
Washington state is home to an incredible flood during the last ice age, about 13,000 to 15,000 years ago. Click on the Story Map to find out more about large the ice age floods are.
Glaciers Maps
Below is a map of all the major glaciated regions around the world. Zoom into and try to identify the mountain glaciers and ice sheets.
Glaciers of the world shown in blue shades.
Glaciated areas of the world. Blue colors indicate glaciated areas.
Textbook Resources
Below are links to textbook resources:
Movie Recommendations!
Below are some movie recommendations that are appropriate for this module.
James Balog's incredible documentary. He and his Extreme Ice Survey team captured on video the incredible loss of glaciers across the world.
A National Geographic documentary about the consequences of losing our glaciers. Leonardo diCaprio narrates and anchors this documentary.
David Attenborough's incredible documentary Our Planet available on YouTube. This episode focuses on the Frozen Worlds. Parts of this documentary can be hard to watch!
How the positive feedback cycle dramatically alters the Arctic Ocean, and how scientists worldwide have banded together to study it. Watch the whole video at Arctic Drift | NOVA | PBS .
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