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In glaciology, an ice cap is a mass of ice that covers less than 50,000 km 2 (19,000 sq mi) of land area (usually covering a highland area). Larger ice masses covering more than 50,000 km 2 (19,000 sq mi) are termed ice sheets .
An ice cap climate is a polar climate where no mean monthly temperature exceeds 0 °C (32 °F). The climate generally covers areas at high altitudes and polar regions (60–90° north and south latitude), such as Antarctica and some of the northernmost islands of Canada and Russia .
Visualization of the ice and snow covering Earth's northern and southern polar regions Northern Hemisphere permafrost (permanently frozen ground) in purple. The polar regions, also called the frigid zones or polar zones, of Earth are Earth's polar ice caps, the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North and South Poles), lying within the polar circles.
An ice dome is a part of an ice cap or ice sheet that is characterized by upstanding ice surface located in the accumulation zone. [5] Ice domes are nearly symmetrical, with a convex or parabolic surface shape. [5] They tend to develop evenly over a land mass that may be either a topographic height or a depression, often reflecting the sub ...
A polar ice cap or polar cap is a high-latitude region of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite that is covered in ice. [ 1 ] There are no requirements with respect to size or composition for a body of ice to be termed a polar ice cap, nor any geological requirement for it to be over land, but only that it must be a body of solid phase ...
There are two types of polar climate: ET, or tundra climate; and EF, or ice cap climate.A tundra climate is characterized by having at least one month whose average temperature is above 0 °C (32 °F), while an ice cap climate has no months averaging above 0 °C (32 °F). [2]
Typical of inland Antarctica, Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station experiences an ice cap climate with BWk precipitation patterns. [33] The peak season of summer lasts from December to mid February. At the Amundsen–Scott the average annual precipitation is approximately 50 millimeters (2 inches), primarily falling as snow. [34]
The Quelccaya Ice Cap lies in the tropical highlands of southern Peru, in the Cordillera Oriental/eastern Andes. [2] [3] The Cordillera Vilcanota mountain range is ten kilometres (6.2 mi) northwest of Quelccaya, [4] [5] and Quelccaya is sometimes considered to be part of it; [6] occasionally Quelccaya is also linked to the Cordillera Carabaya range. [7]