Glaciation
A glacier is a mass of ice which is slow-moving mass. It is formed from compacted layers of snow.
Glacier ice is the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth, and second only to oceans as the largest reservoir of total water. Glaciers cover vast areas of polar regions, are found in mountain ranges of every continent, and are restricted to the highest mountains in the tropics.
The processes and landforms caused by glaciers and related to them are referred to as glacial. The process of glacier growth and establishment is called glaciation. Glaciers are sensitive monitors of climate conditions thus reflecting climate change and are crucial to both world water resources and sea level variation.
Many glaciers are currently receding, it may be that climate change due to global warming is one cause of this.
Perito Moreno Glacier Patagonia Argentina
Photo: Luca Galuzzi - www.galuzzi.it