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As the glaciers move over the uneven terrain, the top 150 feet of glacial ice changes to conform to the shape of the bedrock below. A crevasse opens when the glacier goes over a rise in the rock and closes again when the glacier moves down into a gully. Thus the surface of the glacier is always changing.
Below the surface the glacier is deep blue in color because the weight of the ice above has pressed the air out of it. The surface ice is granular and covered with dirt, perhaps dust from the steppes and deserts of Asia. |
Above: A crevasse in the Norris Glacier, with a detail of the surface
magnified to show the combination of ice and dirt.
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