Glaciation

Article

Glaciation is the formation, growth, movement, and retreat of glaciers and ice sheets. It occurs where snow accumulation persists long enough to compact into ice and where the mass balance remains favourable.

Glaciers flow under their own weight and reshape landscapes through erosion, transport, and deposition. They form valleys, fjords, cirques, moraines, drumlins, and other characteristic landforms.

Earth's history contains repeated glacial and interglacial periods. Their timing is influenced by orbital variations, greenhouse gases, ocean circulation, plate tectonics, mountain building, and feedbacks involving ice and sunlight.

Glaciation stores water on land and lowers sea level, while deglaciation raises it. Ice cores, sediments, landforms, isotopes, and fossils preserve records of former glacial conditions.

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• Source / publisher: Wikipedia
• URL type: WWW
• Credits: Wikipedia
• URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaciation