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Glossary
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alternate bands of light and dark on a glacier; usually found below steep narrow icefalls and thought to be the result of different flow and ablation rates between summer and winter.
banded cryogenic fabrica distinct soil micromorphology, resulting from the effects of freezing and thawing processes, in which soil particles form subhorizontal layers.
barographa barometer that records barometric pressure over time (days or weeks).
an instrument for measuring atmospheric pressure; two types of barometers are commonly used in meteorology: the mercury barometer and the aneroid barometer.
areas of discontinuous vegetation cover in the polar semi-desert of the high arctic.
basal cryopega layer of unfrozen ground that is perennially cryotic (t < 0 degrees Celsius), forming the basal portion of the permafrost.
basal cryostructurethe cryostructure of a frozen deposit of boulders that is saturated with ice.
basal slidingthe sliding of a glacier over bedrock.
basal-layered cryostructurethe cryostructure of a frozen layered deposit of gravel and boulders that is saturated with ice.
beaded streama stream characterized by narrow reaches linking pools or small lakes.
Beaufort Gyrean ocean and ice circulation pattern in the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska. This gyre moves in a clockwise direction, fed by an average high-pressure system that fosters anti-cyclonic winds. Ice that forms in or drifts into the Beaufort Gyre has historically remained in the Arctic ice system for years, accumulating snow and thickening each winter. Beginning in the late 1990s, the ice began melting away while in the southern parts of the gyre, before completing the circulation.
bedrockhard-packed rock lying below the Earth’s surface; lies in beds or layers; can be variable across geographic space; above bedrock is a layer of broken, weathered rock.
belta long area of pack ice from a few km to more than 100 kilometers in width.
bergschrundcrevasse that separates flowing ice from stagnant ice at the head of a glacier.
large chunk of glacier ice (a very small iceberg) floating in the sea; bergy bits are usually less than 5 meters (15 feet) in size and are generally spawned from disintegrating icebergs.
Bermuda highthe semipermanent subtropical high over the North Atlantic Ocean, especially when it is located over the western part of the ocean; the same high over the eastern part of the Atlantic is called the Azores high; on mean charts of sea level pressure, this high is one of the primary centers of action in northern latitudes.
besetsituation of a vessel surrounded by ice and unable to move.
bightan extensive crescent-shaped indentation in the ice edge, formed either by wind or current.
blind leada lead closed off on all sides within the ice pack.
blizzardwinds of at least 35 miles per hour along with considerable falling and/or blowing snow reducing visibility to less than one-quarter mile for a period of at least three hours (extremely cold temperatures are often associated with dangerous blizzard conditions, but are not a formal part of the modern definition).
a surficial layer of angular shattered rocks formed in either modern or pleistocene periglacial environments.
blow holeopening through a snow bridge into a crevasse or system of crevasses which are otherwise sealed by snow bridges; a snowdrift usuallly forms on the lee side.
blowing snowan ensemble of snow particles raised by the wind to moderate or great heights above the ground; the horizontal visibility at eye level is generally very poor.
boraa cold wind blowing down an incline; a kind of katabatic wind.
boreal forestthe forested region that adjoins the tundra along the arctic tree line, which has two main divisions: its northern portion is a belt of taiga or boreal woodland, while its southern portion is a belt of true forest, mainly conifers but with some hardwoods; on its southern boundary the boreal forest passes into “mixed forest” or “parkland,” prairie, or steppe, depending on the rainfall.
bottom bergsicebergs that originate from near the bottom of a glacier; the color is usually black from trapped rock material or dark blue because of old, coarse, bubble-free ice; they sit low in the water due to the weight of the embedded rocks.
bottom temperature of snow covertemperature measured at the base of the snow cover during mid- to late-winter (February/March).
branched-valley glacierglacier that has one or more tributary glaciers that flow into it; distinguished from a simple valley glacier that has only a single tributary glacier.
accumulation of floating ice made up of fragments not more than 2 meters (6.6 feet) across, the wreckage of other forms of ice.
brinesmall droplets of highly saline water that form in pockets between ice crystals, as sea ice forms and expels salt into the underlying ocean water.
BTS methodmethod to predict the presence or absence of permafrost in a mountain area, using measurements of the bottom temperature of snow cover mid- to late-winter.
bummockssmooth hills of ice that form on the bottom of sea ice from eroding keels, particularly during the summer melt.
buoy weather stationa buoy, either fixed or floating, which carries instruments for sensing various meteorological elements and for transmitting the data by radio.
ice formed or deposited on the ground surface and later covered by sediments.
Buys Ballots LawMeterological law which states that if you are standing with your back to the wind in the Northern Hemisphere, low pressure will be on your left, and high pressure will be on your right. Ballot was a 19th century Dutch climatalogist.
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