Found only in Greenland and Antarctica, ice sheets are enormous masses of glacial ice expanding over 50,000 kilometres squared. The ice sheet over Antarctica is over 4.2 kilometres thick in some areas. It covers almost all of the land features except for the Transantarctic Mountains.
Ice Shelves
Ice shelves occur when ice sheets extend over the sea and float on the water. They vary in thickness from a few hundred metres to over a kilometre. They surround most of Antarctica.
Ice Caps
Ice caps are smaller ice sheets, that cover less than 50,000 kilometres squared.They mostly form in polar and sub-polar regions that are relatively flat and high in elevation.
Outlet Glaciers/Ice Streams
Channelised glaciers that flow more rapidly than the surrounding body of ice.
Ice Fields
Ice fields are similar to ice caps, except that they are usually smaller than ice caps and their flow is influenced by the underlying surface area.
Mountain Glaciers
These are glaciers that develop in high mountainous regions, often flowing out of icefields that span several peaks or even mountain ranges.
Valley Glaciers
Often originating from ice fields and mountain glaciers, these glaciers flow down valleys. They can be very long, sometimes even reaching sea level.
Piedmont Glaciers
These are formed when valley glaciers spill out onto relatively flat plains and spread out to cover a large area.
Cirque Glaciers
Glaciers that reside in cirques, large bowl-like hollows, usually found high up in mountains.
Hanging Glaciers
Similar to valley glaciers, they cling to steep mountainsides and are wider than they are long. They are rather common in the Alps.
Tidewater Glaciers
Glaciers that reach the sea. They create small icebergs that can be problematic for ships.
It's a pretty awesome blog on ice. The pictures are the best!
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