Cryosphere glossary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z
a flat-topped iceberg that shows horizontal banding; typically form by breaking from an ice shelf.
the open northern part of the boreal forest; consists of open woodland of coniferous trees growing in a rich floor of lichen (mainly reindeer moss or caribou moss), and is generally cold and swampy; lies immediately south of the tundra; in spring, it is often flooded by water from northward flowing rivers, the lower reaches of which are still frozen.
a layer or body of unfrozen ground occurring in a permafrost area due to a local anomaly in thermal, hydrological, hydrogeological, or hydrochemical conditions.
a small mountain lake or pool.
deformed sea ice in which one piece has overridden another; also called rafted ice.
a physical quantity characterizing the mean random motion of molecules in a physical body; in other words, it is a measure of the degree of hotness or coldness of a substance.
the graphic or analytical expression of the variation in ground temperature with depth.
snow metamorphism that occurs when there are strong differences in temperature between the bottom and top of a snow layer.
the lowest end of a glacier, also called the glacier toe or glacier snout.
longwave radiation emitted by the earth, including its atmosphere.
a depression of the permafrost table created by naturally induced thawing.
a zone of thawed ground below or surrounding a man-made structure placed on or in permafrost and maintained at temperatures above 0 degrees Celsius.
time-dependent compression resulting from thawing of frozen ground and subsequent draining of excess water.
a dimensionless ratio describing the relationship between the rate of thaw and the rate of consolidation of a thawing soil, which is considered to be a measure of the relative rates of generation and expulsion of excess water during thaw.
vertical hole in floating ice formed when a puddle melts through to the underlying water.
the downward movement of the thawing front during thawing of frozen ground.
compression of the ground due to thaw consolidation.
a closed thaw basin with subterranean drainage.
a slope failure mechanism characterized by the melting of ground ice, and downslope sliding and flowing of the resulting debris.
the amount that frozen ground compresses upon thawing.