Continental glacier
Also called: Ice sheet · Topic: Landforms and their Evolution: Rivers, Groundwater, Glaciers, Waves and Wind · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 6 "Landforms and their Evolution"
Meaning
A continental glacier, or ice sheet, is a huge sheet of ice that covers a very large area of land. It is so thick that it buries hills and valleys alike. It covers the land whatever the relief (the ups and downs of the surface) is underneath. The ice spreads outwards slowly under its own weight. Continental glaciers store most of the world's fresh water. During the Ice Age they shaped large parts of North America and northern Europe.
Example
Antarctica and Greenland are covered by continental glaciers today.
Don't confuse with
- Valley glacier: a narrow tongue of ice that flows down a mountain valley and follows the shape of that valley. A continental glacier covers the land beneath it completely.
- Piedmont glacier: a sheet of ice that spreads over the plains at the foot of mountains. It is not a continent-sized ice sheet.
Related concepts
- Glacier
- Valley glacier
- Plucking
- Cirque
- Tarn
- Horn
- Arete
- U-shaped valley
- Hanging valley
- Truncated spur