A Glacial Pace

A Glacial Pace. . , Don't blink or you'll miss it-glaciers are on the move. Research has taught us more about how glaciers move than we've ever known before., Tracking a Moving Glacier , A glacier's pace varies like a river's speed as it widens, narrows, deepens and descends slopes. Capturing those rates takes a detective's eye. The researchers drill bore holes, film the glacial interior and examine ice crystal structure. Specially designed sensors help them find stress points within the ice mass. Even the motion, life- span and workings of crevasses offer clues., Gazing Into a Crystal Ball , Scientists can better predict climate change when equipped with accurate knowledge of glacial motion. In a climate that becomes warmer and dryer, less snow falls on a glacier in winter and more snow melts in summer. However, there's a significant time lag between the ice volume shrinking and the glacier's retreat. To factor in this time lag, researchers have to understand the Ins and outs of glacial flow as the ice shifts Its mass downward., [Glacier diagram reads] , Fast or Slow? , The glacier moves fastest where the ice is thickest - in the center of the valley. The thinner ice along the sides deforms less and therefore moves slower., Ice Flows in Two Ways , Glaciers move downhill by sliding at the base and be deformation. When ice is subjected to tremendous force, it becomes soft and fluid-like, causing it to flow or deform. The thicker the ice, the greater the force will be and the faster the glacier will deform. Here, a borehole in the ice is bent by deformation and has moved forward because of the base sliding. The top moves faster, carried forward by the ice below it., [Photo caption reads] , Researchers place markers on the ice to investigate surface velocity., Research participants: , University of Wyoming, Department of Geology and Geophysics , University of Colorado, Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research