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This differential, which had not been scientifically investigated until recently, has a large effect on the rate of ice melting and the extent of ice cover. [1] Melt ponds can melt through to the ocean's surface. [2] Seawater entering the pond increases the melt rate because the salty water of the ocean is warmer than the fresh water of the ...
The Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen process (after Alfred Wegener, Tor Bergeron, and Walter Findeisen []), (or "cold-rain process") is a process of ice crystal growth that occurs in mixed phase clouds (containing a mixture of supercooled water and ice) in regions where the ambient vapor pressure falls between the saturation vapor pressure over water and the lower saturation vapor pressure over ice.
Ice has a semi-liquid surface layer; When you mix salt onto that layer, it slowly lowers its melting point.. The more surface area salt can cover, the better the chances for melting ice.. Ice ...
While first-year ridges melt approximately 4 times faster than surrounding level ice, [19] second-year ridges melt only 1.6 times faster than surrounding level ice. [17] Sea-ice ridges also play an important role in confining meltwater within under-ice meltwater layers, which may lead to the formation of false bottoms. [20]
The presence of melt ponds is affected by the permeability of the sea ice (i.e. whether meltwater can drain) and the topography of the sea ice surface (i.e. the presence of natural basins for the melt ponds to form in). First year ice is flatter than multiyear ice due to the lack of dynamic ridging, so ponds tend to have greater area.
Masses of ice covering less than 50,000 km 2 are termed an ice cap. An ice cap will typically feed a series of glaciers around its periphery. Although the surface is cold, the base of an ice sheet is generally warmer due to geothermal heat. In places, melting occurs and the melt-water lubricates the ice sheet so that it flows more rapidly.
Greenland's ice melt is of particular concern, as the ancient ice sheet holds enough water to raise sea levels by at least 20 feet (6 meters) if it were to melt away entirely.
Meltwater (or melt water) is water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glacial ice, tabular icebergs and ice shelves over oceans. Meltwater is often found during early spring when snow packs and frozen rivers melt with rising temperatures, and in the ablation zone of glaciers where the rate of snow cover is reducing.