Glacier morphology

Glacier morphology, or the form a glacier takes, is influenced by temperature, precipitation, topography, and other factors. Types of glaciers range from massive ice sheets, such as the Greenland ice sheet or those in Antarctica, to small cirque glaciers perched on a mountain. Glaciers types can be grouped into two main categories, based on whether ice flow is constrained by the underlying bedrock topography.

Ice sheets and ice caps cover vast areas and are unconstrained by the underlying topography having a radial flow. The main distinction between the two is the size of their surface, with ice caps covering areas less than 50,000 square kilometers, while ice sheets span larger areas. Ice sheets and ice caps can be classified further.

An ice dome is an upstanding ice surface located in the accumulation zone of the higher altitude portions of an ice cap or ice sheet. Ice domes are nearly symmetrical with a convex or parabolic surface shape. They tend to develop evenly over a land mass that may be either a topographic height or a depression —often reflecting the subglacial topography. In ice sheets, domes may reach a thickness that may exceed 3,000 m, but in ice caps the thickness of the dome is roughly up to several hundred metres. In glaciated islands ice domes are usually the highest point of the ice cap.

An example of an ice dome is Kupol Vostok Pervyy in Alger Island, Franz Josef Land, Russia.

Ice streams rapidly channel ice flow out to the sea or ocean, where it may feed into an ice shelf. At the margin between ice and water, ice calving takes place, with icebergs breaking off. Ice streams are bounded on the sides by areas of slowly moving ice.

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