Glacier Facts

A glacier is a large body of ice and snow. A glacier forms because the snow in an area does not all melt in summer. Each winter, more snow is added. The weight of all the snow creates pressure. This pressure turns the lower parts of the snow into ice. After this happens for many years, the glacier will start growing very large. See the fact file below for more information about glaciers.

  • A glacier is a large, flowing river of ice that usually moves very slowing.
  • When a chunk of ice breaks off a glacier it is called “calving”.
  • When that chunk of ice floats in the water it is called an iceberg.
  • Most glaciers are found in the polar regions of the world.
  • As the glaciers move across the ground they grind against the earth and carves out valleys.
  • Large boulders can be frozen inside a glacier or pushed along by a glacier, and moved many miles before it is dropped.
  • Glaciers cover about six million square miles of the Earth’s surface, but they are melting at an alarming rate.
  • Between 10,000 to 15,000 icebergs are calved each year.
  • There are animals, such a polar bears , seals and walruses that use icebergs as a place to rest and hunt for food.
  • The Titanic sunk in the Atlantic Ocean because it hit a huge iceberg.

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