Original Beauty

The frozen and winding glaciers of our world cover a vast area and account for the largest source of fresh water on the planet.  They are extraordinarily beautiful in their colour, texture and motion.  Despite the gradual effects of global warming, glaciers are found in 47 countries, in every continent except Australia.  There are hundreds of glaciers across the world and it’s fascinating to find that many of them have formed on volcano fields and can cover entire mountains. 

Eyjafjallojokull glacier, Iceland. Photo: Wikipedia

I love the clear, pure, glassy ice slabs in the picture above.  It is Eyjafjallojokull Glacier which is one of the smaller glaciers of Iceland and covers a volcano.  About half of Iceland’s land area is made up of mountainous lava deserts (over 2119m or 6970ft above sea level) formed from volcanic activity.  Eleven percent of the country is covered by three large and several smaller glaciers.

The Hubbard Glacier (below) is a massive tidewater glacier and continues to thicken and advance towards the Gulf of Alaska. 

Hubbard Glacier, Alaska. Photo:risto

The large terminating wall of ice on a glacier is known as the calving face, where ice regularly and spectacularly cracks off.  The calving face of the Hubbard Glacier in Alaska is over ten kilometres long.  The San Rafeal Glacier in Southern Chile (below) is the tidewater glacier nearest to the equator. 

San Rafeal Glacier, Chile. Photo: RicardoGuler

Glaciers have a tendency to move, or “flow”, downhill. While the bulk of a glacier flows to lower ground, every point of the glacier and every layer within a glacier can move at a different rate or in a different direction.  This movement and breaking causes enormous stresses and spectacular patterns, above and below the surface.

Glacial Sheer face. Photo: jchip8

People regularly hike the Perita Moreno Glacier in Argentina (below).  The alternating light and dark coloured bands are called ogives and form amazing wave crests and wave valleys on the glacier’s surface.

Perita Moreno Glacier, Argentina. Photo:Pilar Coll i Gatells

The calving face of Perita Moreno is over 200 vertical feet (40m) from the surface of Lake Argentina, the equivalent of a fifteen storey building.  The glacier is currently growing outward at the pace of seven feet per day (2m) although chunks of ice falling from the wall makes this progress seem more subtle.

Calving face, Perita Mereno Glacier. Photo:jchip8

This beautiful shot (below) is probably my favourite.  It shows a water stream carving its way across the top of a glacier, forming a meandering stream, fissures and melting zones.  Water flowing underneath a glacier can form ice caves beneath the surface.

Stream on Vibeke Glacier in East Greenland. Photo:Michael Hambrey

Fox Glacier on New Zealand’s south island, falls 2600m on its 13km journey from the Southern Alps to the coast.  Fox Glacier has the distinction of being one of the few glaciers to end among lush rainforest only 300m above sea level.  Although retreating over the last 100 years, it has actually be advancing about a metre a week since 1985.

Ice cave on Fox Glacier: Wikipedia

Athabasca Glacier in Jasper, Canada (below) is between 90m (270ft) and 300m (1000ft) thick and creeps forward by a few centimetres each day.  With water flow and movement, amazing ice caves form underneath.

Athabasca Glacial Ice cave; Jasper,Canada. Photo:connie

Glacial Ice cave; Spencer Glacier, Alaska. Photo:observer

To me, the glacier is an amazing and beautiful reminder of the power of going slowly.  My life is hectic and I’m becoming more conscious and deliberate about how I spend my time.   Glaciers move slowly but constantly.  They appear solid, yet they’re amazingly flexible and ‘fluid’.  They move in different layers and gradually carve out their path.  Looking at these pictures reminds me there is great power and beauty in slowing down yet continuing to move forward.  Let’s try it. 

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