The Glacial System

What is the glacier system?

The glacier system consists of inputs, transfers (flows), stores
and outputs in the same way as a river.
Inputs come from Over time snow accumulates and
avalanches along the sides is compressed into ice. The water
of the glacier but mainly held in storage is the glacier.
from precipitation as snow.

Under the force Meltwater is the main

of gravity, the output from the
glacier flows glacier, along with
downhill. some evaporation.
 How does the glacier operate as a system?

Glaciers are systems in

that they involve
recognisable inputs,
stores and outputs
 Growth of Glaciers

 Glaciers grow or recede as a function of the balance between

accumulation and ablation of snow and ice.
 The accumulation zone is a region where snowpack or superimposed
ice accumulation persists.
 The ablation zone is the region where all of the snow has melted away
and bare glacier ice is exposed.
 The Glacial Budget

 The glacial budget is the total of accumulation and ablation for a glacier.
 In winter the budget is equal or can exceed melt causing the glacier to grow,
but in summer snow and ice melt exceed deposition.
The glacial budget
or net balance

Describe the
shape of the
two curves in
the graph. Give
reasons for the
differences
between them
Accumulation
The process of building-up of a pack of snow, refrozen slush,
meltwater and firn. Net accumulation for one year is the
material left over at the end of the melt-season.

Measuring the previous year’s snow accumulation on Colle Gnifetti on Monte

Rosa, Switzerland.
 Accumulation area
That part of a glacier’s surface, usually at higher elevations, on
which there is net accumulation of snow, which subsequently
turns into firn and then glacier ice.

Accumulation area of Glärnischgletscher, a small mountain glacier in NE Switzerland.

Ablation
The process of
wastage of
snow or ice by
melting,
sublimation
and calving.

[Sublimation =
change of ice to
vapour]

Ablation on Glacier de Tsanfleuron,

Switzerland causing water to run off
the glacier margin. Photo J. Alean.
Ablation area/zone
That part of a glacier’s surface, usually at lower elevations, over
which ablation exceeds accumulation.

Ablation area of Glärnischgletscher, a small mountain glacier in northeastern

Switzerland.
Glacier table
A boulder perched on a pedestal of ice. The boulder protects
the ice from ablation during sunny weather. Around the
boulder the ice surface ablates and, therefore, is lowered,
whereas the boulder remains at the original level.

Glacier table on Vadret Pers, Grisons, Switzerland.

Equilibrium line/zone
The line or zone on a glacier’s
surface where a year’s ablation
balances a year’s accumulation.
It is determined at the end of the
ablation season, and commonly
occurs at the boundary between
superimposed ice and glacier ice.

The arrow in this photo actually points out

the firn line. However, as the photo was
taken near the end of the ablation
season, the firn line more-or-less
coincides with the equilibrium line.
Calving The process of detachment of icebergs and smaller
blocks of ice from a glacier into water.

Calving event at Hubbard Glacier, Alaska.

Glacier advance
The forward movement of the snout of a glacier following
successive years of positive mass balance

Crusoe Glacier, Axel Heiberg Island, has a steep front, typical of advancing glaciers.
Glacier recession The shrinking of the snout of a glacier
following successive years of negative mass balance. Also
referred to by the term glacier retreat.

Extremely rapid recession of Triftgletscher, Bernese Alps, Switzerland. Left: 2002, right
2003. Recession is accelerated by calving in the proglacial lake.
Glacier terminus
Lowest end of a glacier

Terminus of Bergsetbreen, western Norway

Snout
The lower part of the ablation area of a valley glacier,
commonly shaped like the snout of an animal.

Snout of Bergsetbreen, Jostedalen, Norway

The Glacier system