The time system in which mass balance is determined by conducting field surveys on floating calendar dates. Annual field surveys are usually carried out close to the beginning of the hydrological year
. For the determination of seasonal mass balances, a survey is carried out close to the end of the accumulation season, without interpolation or extrapolation to a fixed date. The duration of the mass-balance year varies in the floating-date system. See also measurement year, stratigraphic system, fixed-date system, combined system.
Tidewater glaciers with floating tongues. Their lateral margins might be attached to the coastline or where there is no more topographic limitation it might expand.
Sea ice terminology, meaning any form of ice found floating in water. The principal kinds of floating ice are lake ice, river ice and sea ice, which form by the freezing of water at the surface, and g
lacier ice which is formed on land or in an ice shelf.
Any form of ice found floating in water. The principal kinds of floating ice are lake ice, river ice, and sea ice, which form by the freezing of water at the surface, and glacier ice (ice of land orig
in) formed on land or in an ice shelf. The concept includes ice that is stranded or grounded.
Any form of ice found floating in water. The principal kinds of floating ice are lake ice, river ice, sea ice that forms by the freezing of water at the surface, and glacier ice (ice of land origin) f
ormed on land or in an ice shelf. The concept includes ice that is stranded or grounded.
Any form of ice floating in water. The principal kinds of floating ice at the sea surface are sea ice which is formed by the freezing of sea water at the surface, lake ice and river ice formed on rive
rs or lakes and glacier ice (ice of land origin). The concept also includes ice that is grounded.
The terminal part of a glacier, the weight of which is partially or entirely supported by lake or seawater. Lateral stress from valley walls, and possibly from ice rises and other grounded parts of th
e glacier, supports a significant part of the weight of the floating ice, in which respect floating tongues generally differ from ice shelves.
Any relatively flat piece of sea ice 20 m or more across. Floes are subdivided according to horizontal extent as follows: Giant: Over 10 km across, Vast: 2 to 10 km across, Big: 500 to 2000 m across,
Medium: 100 to 500 m across, Small: 20 to 100 m across.
A floe is any contiguous piece of sea ice. Floes may be described in terms of several size categories: Giant: over 10km across Vast: 2-10km across Big: 500-2000m across Medium: 100-500m across Small:
20-100m across. Floes less than 20m across are called cake ice