| Term: | Polar glacier |
| Definition: |
A glacier entirely below freezing, except possibly for a thin layer of melt near the surface during summer or near the bed; polar glaciers are found only in polar regions of the globe or at high altitudes. NSIDCCryosphere
An obsolete term, due to Ahlmann (1935), originally in the form 'high-polar glacier', describing a glacier with an accumulation zone in which there is little or no melting and the temperature is below the freezing point to depths of at least 200 m. See cold glacier, polythermal glacier for rough equivalents in modern terminology. IHPGlacierMassBalance A glacier with a thermal or temperature regime in which ice temperatures always remain below the freezing point. In Ahlmann's glacier classification, a glacier with an accumulation area covered by firn and with subsurface temperatures below freezing throughout the year. The two subtypes are the high polar glacier and the subpolar glacier. AMSglossary GCW |