Snow field
Permanent accumulation of snow and ice, usually in mountains or glaciers
A snow field or snowfield is an accumulation of snow and ice, typically found above the snow line, normally in mountainous and glacial terrain. It consists of old snow an névé. Snow lasting longer than a year becomes denser and is then designated as firn.
Glaciers originate in snow fields. The lower end of a glacier is usually free from snow and névé in summer. In the upper end and above the upper boundary of a glacier, the snow field is an ice field covered with snow which transforms into firn. The glacier upper boundary, where it emerges from under a snow field, is ill-defined because of gradual transition.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Snow field”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Tarn 6320 feet 23126.JPG by Walter Siegmund, CC BY 2.5
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