Everything about Ice Field totally explained
An
ice field (also spelled
icefield) is an area less than 50,000
km² (19,305
mile²) of
ice often found in the colder climates and higher altitudes of the world where there's sufficient precipitation
(External Link
). It is an extensive area of interconnected valley glaciers from which the higher peaks rise as
nunataks. Ice fields are larger than alpine
glaciers, smaller than
ice sheets and similar in area to
ice caps.
Formation
Ice fields are formed by a large accumulation of snow which, through years of compression and freezing, turns into ice. Due to ice’s susceptibility to gravity, ice fields usually form over large areas that are basins or atop plateaus thus allowing a continuum of ice to form over the landscape and not be interrupted by glacial channels. Glaciers often form on the edges of ice fields serving as gravity-propelled drains on the ice field which is in turn replenished by the ice field’s snowfall.
While an ice cap is unconstrained by topography, an icefield is. An ice field is also distinguishable from an ice cap because it doesn't have a dome-like form (Summerfield 1991).
Ice fields of the world
Antarctica
While not technically an ice field (a
continental-sized
ice sheet rather), Antarctica is extensively covered by ice.
Asia
There are a handful of ice fields in the
Himalayas and
Altay Mountains (the border range between the
Central Asian Republics and
China). One unexpected ice field is located in
Yolyn Am, a mountain valley located in the northern end of the
Gobi Desert.
Oceania
There are no ice fields in
Australia but there are a few in
New Zealand, including the
Garden of Eden, the
Garden of Allah, and the
Olivine Ice Plateau.
Europe
The only large ice fields in continental Europe are on
Norway (for example,
Dovre and
Jotunheimen), but these are much smaller than their
Canadian or
Alaskan counterparts. There are a handful of small ice fields, also, in the southern
Alps.
Iceland also features a large ice field that covers a high percentage of the island.
Greenland
Like Antarctica, Greenland is a continental-sized ice sheet and not technically an ice field.
North America
One of the more famous North American ice fields is the
Columbia Icefield located in the
Rocky Mountains between
Jasper and
Banff,
Alberta. However, despite its fame, it's actually a comparatively small ice field relative to the
America cordillera.
A large number of particularly expansive ice fields lie in the
Coast Mountains,
Alaska Range, and
Chugach Mountains of
Alaska,
British Columbia, and the
Yukon Territory. Both the 6,500 km²
Stikine Icecap (located between the
Stikine and
Taku Rivers) and the 2,500 km²
Juneau Icefield (located between
Lynn Canal and the
Taku River) are both straddled along the British Columbian-Alaskan border. Farther north the
Kluane Icecap — which feeds the immense
Malaspina and
Hubbard Glaciers as well as the
Bagley Icefield. — sits upon the British Columbia-Yukon Territory-Alaska border and surrounds most of the
Saint Elias Mountains as well as both
Mount Saint Elias and
Mount Logan but also extends as far west as the
Copper River.
There are also large ice fields located in the
Kenai Peninsula-
Chugach Mountains area such as the
Sargent Icefield and the
Harding Icefield. Throughout the Alaska Range there also large icefields (including one surrounding
Denali), although mostly unnamed.
South America
In South America, there are two main ice fields,
Campo de Hielo Norte (translates to Northern Ice Field or
Northern Patagonian Ice Field) and
Campo de Hielo Sur (translates to Southern Ice Field or
Southern Patagonian Ice Field), both in
Chile (although there are parts of the Southern Ice Field in
Argentina). There is also a small ice field on the western (
Chilean) portion of
Tierra del Fuego proper.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ice Field'.
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