Glaciers, like the one seen above
are subject to the thermal regime of ice, associated in kind to the glacial
mass balance. Outlet glaciers like the Athabasca are classified as “active ice”
and are fed by a steady fund of ice from a neve. The glaciers experience erosion,
this taking place by abrasion. However, other forces such as temperature of the
basal ice, the glacier’s movement and character of the underlying rock play a
part in glacier erosion since ice by itself is not a hard material. The process occurs gradually and degradation happens through glacier movement; as streams carry sediment, sharper rocks cut into the base of the glacier.
Photo credit: http://jasperjournal.com/jaspergallery/v/glaciers/DSC03676_glacier_Jasper.jpg.html
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