Cryosphere glossary
a measure of the compactness, or strength of the ice; plays an important role in the deformation of the ice and formation of features such as ridges and leads.
in meteorology, a departure from the usual (normal) decrease or increase with altitude of the value of an atmospheric property; also, the layer through which this departure occurs (the inversion layer); this term almost always refers to a temperature inversion.
a distinct soil micromorphology, resulting from the effects of freezing and thawing processes, in which soil particles form subhorizontal layers of similar thickness.
a line of equal or constant pressure; it most often refers to a line drawn through all points of equal atmospheric pressure.
a line drawn through geographical points recording equal amounts of precipitation during a specific period.
a body of unfrozen ground, that is perennially cryotic (T < 0 degrees Celsius) and entirely surrounded by perennially frozen ground.
Isostatic rebound (also called continental rebound, post-glacial rebound or isostatic adjustment) is the rise of land masses that were depressed by the huge weight of ice sheets during the last ice age
relatively strong winds concentrated within a narrow stream in the atmosphere; generally refers to a quasi-horizontal jet stream of maximum winds embedded in the midlatitude westerlies, and concentrated in the high troposphere.
(1) a large outburst flood that usually occurs when a glacially dammed lake drains catastrophically (2) any catastrophic release of water from a glacier.
any wind blowing down an incline; if the wind is warm, it is called a foehn or chinook; if cold, it may be a fall wind (bora), or a gravity wind (mountain wind); the opposite of anabatic wind.
the part of a ridge below the ocean surface; wind, ocean currents, and other forces can push sea ice into piles that rise and form small mountains below the level sea ice surface.
snow metamorphism that builds angular facets on crystals and makes cup and scroll shaped crystals.
a general term for all types of coarse clastic formations on slopes of 2-3 to 40 degrees, moving downslope mainly due to creep.