Glacieret

Snezhnika is a glacieret in Bulgaria's Pirin Mountains.

A glacieret is a very small glacier, with a surface area less than 0.1 km^2 (25 acres). The term is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to a large, persistent snow patch of firn or névé.

Characteristics

Sometimes hardly larger than snowfields and perennial firn patches, glacierets tend to have little ice movement, with accumulation and ablation zones difficult to detect.[1] Glacierets are usually remnants of larger glaciers that existed. Due to their small size, they are at a higher risk of melting due to climate change than larger glaciers.[2]

Examples

• Snezhnika in the Pirin range of Bulgaria was the southernmost glacial mass in Europe before the discovery of glaciers on Mount Bazardüzü.[3][2]
• The Banski Suhodol Glacieret, also in the Pirin, is the only other surviving glacial mass in Bulgaria.[4]
• There are some glacierets in the Picos del Infierno [es] range of the Pyrenees.[5]
• The Red Eagle Glacier in Montana, following a century of retreat, has dropped below the threshold of an active glacier and become a mere glacieret.[6]
• Shepard Glacier in Glacier National Park converted to a glacieret in 2009.[7]
• There are many glacierets on Mount Kenya, ranging from surface areas of 0.01 to 0.09 km^2.[8]
• The last glacier of the Apennines, the Calderone glacier, is a glacieret with a surface area of 0.03 km^2 in 2001.[9]

Former glacierets that melted

Glacierets that melt usually remain perennial snow patches and gather back some firn.[10]

• The glacieret on the Corral de la Veleta in Spain's Sierra Nevada was the southernmost glacial mass in Europe until it melted in 1913.[11]
• In the Kazania cirque of Mount Olympus, a glacieret existed during the Little Ice Age.[2]

References

1. Davies, Bethan (22 June 2010). "Glaciers of Antarctica". Antarctic Glaciers. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
2. Grunewald, Karsten; Jörg Scheithauer (2010). "Europe's southernmost glaciers: response and adaptation to climate change". Journal of Glaciology. 56 (195). International Glaciological Society: 129–142. Bibcode:2010JGlac..56..129G. doi:10.3189/002214310791190947. ISSN 0022-1430.
3. "(the pirin mountains, bulgaria) in the last ten years" (PDF). igipz.pan.pl. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
4. Emil Gachev, Alexander Gikov, Cvetelina Zlatinova, Bozidar Blagoev Present state of Bulgarian glacierets Landform Analysis, Vol. 11: 16–24 ISSN 2081-5980
5. Zaragoza University: Recent glacier evolution in the Spanish Pyrenees Archived 2008-08-19 at the Wayback Machine
6. "Retreat of Glaciers in Glacier National Park" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. 2010. Retrieved 2012-09-22.
7. Brown, Matthew (April 7, 2010). "Glacier National Park loses two more glaciers". USA Today. Retrieved 2012-09-22.
8. Hastenrath, Stefan (1984). The Glaciers of Equatorial East Africa. Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel Publishing Company. ISBN 90-277-1572-6.
9. Visconti, Guido; M. Beniston; Emilio D. Iannorelli; Diego Barba (2001-04-30). Global Change and Protected Areas (Advances in Global Change Research). New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 425–435. ISBN 0-7923-6918-1.
10. Berrisford, M.S., 1991. Evidence for enhanced mechanical weathering associated with seasonally late‐lying and perennial snow patches, Jotunheimen, Norway. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 2 (4), pp.331-340.
11. Veleta or Pico de Veleta - Iberianature