Ice cap

Ice cap

[
Vatnajökull, Iceland]

An ice cap is an ice mass that covers less than 50 000 km² of land area (usually covering a highland area). Masses of ice covering more than 50 000 km² are termed an ice sheet. cite book
last = Benn
first = Douglas
authorlink =
coauthors = David Evans
title = Glaciers and Glaciation
year = 1998
publisher = Arnold
location = London
isbn = 0-340-58431-9
ISBN status = May be invalid - please double check
] cite book
last = Bennett
first = Matthew
authorlink =
coauthors = Neil Glasser
title = Glacial Geology: Ice Sheets and Landforms
year = 1996
publisher = John Wiley and Sons Ltd.
location = Chichester, England
isbn = 0-471-96345-3
ISBN status = May be invalid - please double check
]

Ice caps are not constrained by topographical features (i.e., they will lie over the top of mountains) but their "dome" is usually centred around the highest point of a massif. Ice flows away from this high point (the ice divide) towards the ice cap's periphery.

Vatnajökull is an example of an ice cap in Iceland. [cite journal
last =Flowers
first = Gwenn E.
coauthors = Shawn J. Marshall, Helgi Bjŏrnsson and Garry K. C. Clarke
title =Sensitivity of Vatnajŏkull ice cap hydrology and dynamics to climate warming over the next 2 centuries
journal = Journal of Geophysical Research
volume = 110
pages = F02011
publisher =
date = 2005
url = http://www.eos.ubc.ca/research/glaciology/research/Publications/FlowersMarshallBjornssonClarke(JGR-2005).pdf
doi = 10.1029/2004JF000200
accessdate = 2007-05-31
]

References

efit

ee also

* Polar ice cap
* Ice shelf
* Glacier
* Icefield


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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • ice cap — n. a dome shaped mass of glacial ice that spreads slowly out in all directions from a center * * * …   Universalium

  • ice cap — n an area of thick ice that permanently covers the North and South Poles …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • ice cap — ice ,cap noun count a large area of ice that covers the land and ocean around the North or South Pole …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • ice cap — ► NOUN ▪ a permanent covering of ice over a large area, especially on the polar region of a planet …   English terms dictionary

  • ice cap — n. a dome shaped mass of glacial ice that spreads slowly out in all directions from a center …   English World dictionary

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  • ice cap — noun a mass of ice and snow that permanently covers a large area of land (e.g., the polar regions or a mountain peak) • Syn: ↑icecap • Hypernyms: ↑ice mass * * * noun 1. : an ice bag shaped to be fitted to the head 2 …   Useful english dictionary

  • ice cap — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms ice cap : singular ice cap plural ice caps a large area of ice that covers the land and sea around the North or South Pole …   English dictionary

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