The glaciers slide!

2003/07/07 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Geologia

Norway investigates how glaciers plunge into the sea because it is not clear what most resists the movement of the ice block. According to a new study, resistance is due to friction between the fragments of marginal notes of the glacier and the underlying rock. On the contrary, according to the existing models, only irregularities in the surface of the rock affected them.

To obtain new results, the tunnels that form in the glacier have been analyzed. These tunnels have been created by the thaw due to the ice and friction of the rock, and have been able to verify that the sediments that drag the glacier also have something to say in resistance.

Other data are the results of the last study: sometimes a layer of water is formed between the glacier and the rock, which causes the ice to slip on the stone. The best study of the dynamics of glaciers and the modeling of the process takes on special importance, among other things, for its possible influence on the level of the sea and the climate.

Photo: Hallegic Elchoyi Photographs.