Introducing glaciersGlaciers are among the most beautiful natural wonders on Earth. Today, glaciers and ice sheets cover a tenth of the Earth`s surface, whilst over millions of years they have scoured away rocks, transporting sediments far from their source. Glacier meltwater drives turbines and irrigates deserts, yields mineral-rich soils, and has left us valuable deposits of sand and gravel. However, glaciers also threaten human property and life. Our future is indirectly bound up with the fate of glaciers, and their influence on global climate and sea level. Scenes are depicted from all over the world. | |||
 Fotos from «Glaciers» (CUP, 2004) by M. Hambrey and J. Alean. The captions on the website are similar to, but sometimes slightly shorter than those in the book. |  Tidewater glacier glacier cliff reflected in pool on melting sea ice, Nordenskiöldbreen, Billefjorden, western Spitsbergen. MH |  The decaying, pinnacled snout of Wright Lower Glacier in the polar desert area of the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. MH |  The world’s highest peak, Mount Everest (8848 m) on the left, feeds the Khumbu Icefall and then the Khumbu Glacier which flows beneath Nuptse 7861 m) towards the right. MH |
 A fine set of medial moraines on Edward Bailey Gletscher, Milne Land, East Greenland. Note how convergence of two streams of ice with debris along the sides combines to produce a medial moraines. MH |  The Sherpa villages of the Khumbu Himal are overlooked by some of the world’s highest peaks and their extensive glaciers. Near Dingboche Bhuddist prayer flags provide a foreground for the ice-draped peaks of Thamserku. MH |  The lateral margin of Taylor Glacier in the Dry Valleys of Victoria Land, Antarctica. This glacier is an outlet from the east Antarctic Ice Sheet, but fails to reach the sea, instead terminating in a saline lake. MH |  Mer de Glace from Montenvers, near Chamonix, France, one of the first glaciers to be studied by 19th Century scientists, and now a popular destination for tourists and climbers. MH |
| Photos: Michael Hambrey (MH), Jürg Alean (JA) | |||