The shrinking of the snout (toe) of a glacier following successive years of negative mass balance (q.v.). This is usually evident from the recession of the ice margin on land, or calving in the sea, b
ut also from down-wasting. Also referred to by the term glacier retreat.
A glacier that is reconstructed or reconstituted out of other glacier material; usually formed by seracs falling from a hanging glacier, then re-adhering; also called reconstituted, reconstructed or r
egenerated glacier.
see glacier recession: The shrinking of the snout (toe) of a glacier following successive years of negative mass balance (q.v.). This is usually evident from the recession of the ice margin on land, o
r calving in the sea, but also from down-wasting. Also referred to by the term glacier retreat.
A rock that is balanced on a pedestal of ice, and elevated above the surface of a glacier. The rock protects the pedestal of ice from melting by insulating it from the sun.
A boulder perched on a pedestal of ice. The boulder protects the ice from ablation during sunny weather. Around the boulder the ice surface ablates and, therefore, is lowered, whereas the boulder rema
ins at the original level. While the pedestal becomes higher and higher in relation to the glacier surface, the sun shines further under the boulder from the south (in the northern hemisphere). Consequently the pedestal gets ablated on its southern side, and the boulder will eventually fall off the pedestal, usually on its southern side (in the northern hemisphere). After this a new cycle of table growth and destruction may begin.
Sea ice terminology that describes the seaward extension of a glacier, usually afloat. In the Antarctic, glacier tongues may extend over many tens of kilometres.