Question

glaciers
what is a glacier?
snow falls and accumulates on the ground everywhere in new york state. in the highest parts of the adirondack mountains, winter snow often lasts into early summer before it is completely melted. if the mountains were 1000 or 2000 meters higher, the reduced warmth of summer would not be able to melt winter snow. each year more snow would accumulate and exert pressure on the underlying snow. this pressure would change the snow to ice and gravity would make the ice begin to flow downhill. this is how glaciers form. the reason that no glaciers exist today in new york state is that there are no places where the snow does not completely melt before the following winter.
snow and ice exist as crystals. when snow falls, the flakes are usually light and feathery. after the flakes reach the ground and are buried under fresh snow, the delicate crystals gradually change to solid ice over a period of time that depends on such factors as speed of burial and temperature. is ice a solid or a liquid? ice is composed of water in the crystalline solid form. it fits the definition of a solid. under short - term stress, ice behaves as a solid. an ice cube in an environment below freezing has a fixed shape. hit it with a hammer and it breaks into smaller pieces. yet ice in a glacier flows. glaciers do not flow because the ice is melting. they flow because solid ice responds to long - term stress by bending and deforming.

1. briefly describe how glaciers form.
2. why are there currently no glaciers in new york state?
3. what causes ice, a solid material, to be able to flow downhill like a liquid?

Explanation:

1. Snow accumulates, pressure turns it to ice, gravity makes it flow downhill.
2. No places where snow doesn't melt before next winter.
3. Long - term stress causes solid ice to bend and deform.

Answer:

1. Snow accumulates, pressure turns it to ice, gravity makes it flow downhill.
2. No places where snow doesn't melt before next winter.
3. Long - term stress causes solid ice to bend and deform.