Ice cap
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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.[1][2]
Ice caps are not constrained by topographical features (i.e., they will lie over the top of mountains) but their dome is usually centred on the highest point of a massif. Ice flows away from this high point (the ice divide) towards the ice cap's periphery.[1]
Vatnajökull is an example of an ice cap in Iceland.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Benn, Douglas; David Evans (1998). Glaciers and Glaciation. London: Arnold. ISBN 0-340-58431-9.
- ^ Bennett, Matthew; Neil Glasser (1996). Glacial Geology: Ice Sheets and Landforms. Chichester, England: John Wiley and Sons Ltd.. ISBN 0-471-96345-3.
- ^ Flowers, Gwenn E.; Shawn J. Marshall, Helgi Bjŏrnsson and Garry K. C. Clarke (2005). "Sensitivity of Vatnajŏkull ice cap hydrology and dynamics to climate warming over the next 2 centuries". Journal of Geophysical Research 110: F02011. doi:, http://www.eos.ubc.ca/research/glaciology/research/Publications/FlowersMarshallBjornssonClarke(JGR-2005).pdf. Retrieved on 31 May 2007.
[edit] See also
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