Glacier

Most animals that live on glaciers are small and specialized, such as glacial midges, snow fleas, glacial copepods, rotifers, and ice worms. These animals feed on organic matter, algae, bacteria, and each other. They can survive the cold and dry conditions by producing antifreeze proteins, entering dormancy, or migrating to warmer areas.

Some larger animals, such as birds and mammals, may visit glaciers for feeding, resting, or escaping predators. For example, polar bears, seals, and penguins may use icebergs, which are chunks of glacier ice that break off and float in the ocean, as platforms for hunting, breeding, or traveling.

Glacier animals are adapted to harsh and changing environments, but they are also vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which is causing glaciers to melt and shrink. This may reduce their habitats, food sources, and survival chances.

Glaciers are massive, slowly moving bodies of ice that form on land from the accumulation and compaction of snow over many years.

They are found in regions where the climate is cold enough for snow to persist year-round and accumulate over time.

Most of the world's glaciers are located in the polar regions, such as Greenland, the Canadian Arctic, and Antarctica.

However, glaciers are not exclusive to the poles; they can also be found in mountain ranges closer to the Equator, like the Andes in South America.

Glaciers play a crucial role in their ecosystems by acting as reservoirs of water that persist through summer.

Their continual melt contributes water to the ecosystem during dry months, creating perennial stream habitats and a water source for plants and animals.

The cold runoff from glaciers also affects downstream water temperatures, which can be vital for certain species.

As remnants of the last Ice Age, glaciers can range in age from a few hundred to several thousand years old.

Unfortunately, due to global warming, glaciers worldwide have been shrinking and even disappearing at an accelerated rate for the past several decades.

• Crevasses: These are deep cracks or fissures that form on the surface of a glacier as it moves and bends over uneven terrain.
  Crevasses can be several meters wide and hundreds of meters deep, exposing the blue ice beneath the snow cover.
  Crevasses are dangerous for anyone trying to cross a glacier, as they can be hidden by snow bridges or thin layers of snow.

• Seracs: These are large blocks or towers of ice that form when two crevasses intersect.
  Seracs can be unstable and collapse without warning, creating ice avalanches or debris.
  Seracs are common on steep parts of a glacier, such as the icefall zone where the glacier flows over a cliff or a steep slope.

• Moraines: These are piles or ridges of rock and sediment that are carried and deposited by a glacier.
  Moraines can form on the sides, the center, or the end of a glacier, depending on how the glacier transports and drops the material.
  Moraines can mark the former extent of a glacier, as they are left behind when the glacier retreats.

• Cirques: These are bowl-shaped depressions that are carved by a glacier at the head of a valley.
  Cirques have steep walls and a flat floor, and they often contain a small lake or pond called a tarn.
  Cirques are the starting point of many mountain glaciers, as they collect snow and ice that feed the glacier.

• Fjords: These are long, narrow, and deep inlets of the sea that are formed by a glacier eroding a valley.
  Fjords have steep sides and a U-shaped cross-section, and they are often filled with saltwater that mixes with freshwater from melting glaciers.
  Fjords are common in high-latitude regions, such as Norway, Alaska, and New Zealand.