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Question
Which among the following is the largest glacier?
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Solution
The correct option is C Continental glaciers
ICE SHEETS/ continental glaciers-Only in Antarctica and Greenland, ice sheets are enormous continental masses of glacial ice and snow expanding over 50,000 square kilometres (19,305 square miles). The ice sheet on Antarctica is over 4.7 kilometres (3 miles) thick in some areas, covering nearly all of the land features except the Transantarctic Mountains, which protrude above the ice. Another example is the Greenland Ice Sheet. In the past ice ages, huge ice sheets also covered most of Canada (the Laurentide Ice Sheet) and Scandinavia (the Scandinavian Ice Sheet), but these have now disappeared, leaving only a few ice caps and mountain glaciers behind.
MOUNTAIN glaciers develop in high mountainous regions, often flowing out of ice fields that span several peaks or even a mountain range. The largest mountain glaciers are found in Arctic Canada, Alaska, the Andes in South America, and the Himalaya in Asia.
Piedmont glaciers occur when steep valley glaciers spill into relatively flat plains, where they spread out into bulb-like lobes. Malaspina Glacier in Alaska is one of the most famous examples of this type of glacier, and is the largest piedmont glacier in the world. Spilling out of the Seward Ice field, Malaspina Glacier covers about 3,900 square kilometres (1,500 square miles) as it spreads across the coastal plain.
Cirque glaciers are named for the bowl-like hollows they occupy, which are called cirques. Typically, they are found high on mountainsides and tend to be wide rather than long
ICE SHEETS/ continental glaciers-Only in Antarctica and Greenland, ice sheets are enormous continental masses of glacial ice and snow expanding over 50,000 square kilometres (19,305 square miles). The ice sheet on Antarctica is over 4.7 kilometres (3 miles) thick in some areas, covering nearly all of the land features except the Transantarctic Mountains, which protrude above the ice. Another example is the Greenland Ice Sheet. In the past ice ages, huge ice sheets also covered most of Canada (the Laurentide Ice Sheet) and Scandinavia (the Scandinavian Ice Sheet), but these have now disappeared, leaving only a few ice caps and mountain glaciers behind.
MOUNTAIN glaciers develop in high mountainous regions, often flowing out of ice fields that span several peaks or even a mountain range. The largest mountain glaciers are found in Arctic Canada, Alaska, the Andes in South America, and the Himalaya in Asia.
Piedmont glaciers occur when steep valley glaciers spill into relatively flat plains, where they spread out into bulb-like lobes. Malaspina Glacier in Alaska is one of the most famous examples of this type of glacier, and is the largest piedmont glacier in the world. Spilling out of the Seward Ice field, Malaspina Glacier covers about 3,900 square kilometres (1,500 square miles) as it spreads across the coastal plain.
Cirque glaciers are named for the bowl-like hollows they occupy, which are called cirques. Typically, they are found high on mountainsides and tend to be wide rather than long
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