A crack or series of cracks that open in the surface of a moving glacier in response to differential stresses caused by glacier flow. They range in shape from linear to arcuate, in length from feet to
miles. Their orientation may be in any direction with respect to the glacier flow. The deepest crevasses may exceed 100 feet.
A crack formed in glacier ice when tensile stresses exceed the tensile strength of the ice. The tensile stresses, and the tensile strength of the ice, are variable, and compressive stress at depth is
believed to play a role in limiting the depth to which surface crevasses propagate. This depth can be up to a few tens of metres, or more if the crevasse is filled with water. Crevasses are conduits for the transfer of water, including surface meltwater, to the glacier interior and sometimes the glacier bed; see moulin. When crevasses in floating ice fill with surface meltwater, they may propagate to the base, causing the ice shelf or floating tongue to disintegrate. The fragments may contribute to an ice m
A deep V-shaped cleft formed in the upper brittle part of a glacier as a result of the fracture of ice undergoing extension. For various types of crevasses refer to longitudinal crevasse, transverse c
revasse, en-echelon crevasse and bergschrund.
(1) Opening on a levee that allows for the drainage of water from the floodplain to the stream channel. (2) Fracture on the brittle surface of a glacier.
A kind of hoarfrost; ice crystals that develop by sublimation in glacial crevasses and in other cavities with cooled space and calm, still conditions under which water vapor can accumulate; physical o
rigin is similar to depth hoar.
Ice crystals that form and grow in glacial crevasses and in other cavities where a large cooled space is formed and in which water vapor can accumulate under calm, still conditions; a type of hoarfros
t. They have an origin similar to that of depth hoar; the typical crystal is a hollow cup with one side opening inward and continued in a hexagonal scroll.
A long vein of clear ice a few centimetres to a few metres wide, formed as a result of fracture and recrystallisation of ice under tension without separation of the two walls; these structures commonl
y form parallel to open crevasses and extend into them. Thicker veins of clear ice resulting from the freezing of standing water in open crevasses are also referred to as crevasse traces.