Series: Glacier Ice Features

Active glaciers often have distinct features that are associated with the flowing, melting ice. You can see many of these features in parks with glaciers.

• Article 1: Crevasses

  

  Crevasses are cracks that form in glacier ice when flow is too fast for the ice to deform by creeping. Read more

• Article 2: Ice Falls

  

  Ice falls in a glacier are like water falls in a river. They form in steep sections of the glacier and are characterized fast flow that can cause the ice to break into seracs. Read more

• Article 3: Seracs and Icebergs

  

  Seracs and icebergs are blocks of ice that have detached from the main glacier. Read more

• Article 4: Glacier Ice Caves

  

  Melting at the margin of a glacier may cause small caves to form within the ice, between the ice and the bedrock, or between the ice and the sediment beneath it. Read more

• Article 5: Tarns

  

  Tarns are lakes that form in glacially-carved cirques. They are often dammed by moraines. If they are still associated with moving glaciers, tarns are often full of tiny, glacially-ground sediment that scatter light and can make the water appear colorful. Read more

• Article 6: Jökulhlaups

  

  Jökulhlaups (an Icelandic word pronounced yo-KOOL-lahp) are glacial outburst floods. They occur when a lake fed by glacial meltwater breaches its dam and drains catastrophically. Read more