| Sampling of "Antarctic Dictionary" |
| Information from NOVA Online |
| growler: a hard-to-see
iceberg, often awash with seawater, that poses a hazard to ships
katabatic: cold, dense wind blowing by force of gravity off the high central plateau toward the coasts névé: literally "last year's snow," consolidated snow deep within an ice sheet that is one step away from being solid glacial ice nilas: a thin sheen of ice on the sea surface that bends but does not break with wave action nunatak: any mountain poking through the ice blanket polynya: a stretch of open water within an expanse of pack ice that remains open throughout the winter satsrugi: irregularly shaped heaps of snow on the surface of the ice sheet, fashioned by wind ventifact: wind-blasted, curiously shaped rocks found in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica |
| More Words You Should Know |
| Glacier: a huge mass of ice
that moves extremely slowly down a mountainside. Icebergs come from glaciers.
The glaciers are rivers of ice creeping toward the sea. The Lambert Glacier in
East Antarctica, the world's largest valley glacier, discharges some 8.4 cubic
miles of ice into the Avery Ice Sheet every year. Tides or waves cause pieces
to break off and float away. These pieces of floating ice are called icebergs.
Iceberg: large mass of ice which has broken off an ice shelf. It is made up of fresh water and can be found drifting among pack ice. As ice shelves break apart, colossal icebergs are launched into the southern oceans. Antarctica's icebergs are famous for their size, which is often several miles long. The largest iceberg ever spotted was sighted by the USS Glacier on November 12, 1956. It measured 208 miles long by 60 miles wide - the size of Belgium! Ice shelf: vast floating sheet of ice on some parts of the coast, fed by glaciers descending from the mountains. The ice in Antarctica is so thick; gravity forces it to spread out towards its edges. The ice sheet goes into the sea and thins out as it pushes off the coast. Sea ice: sea ice forms when ocean water freezes. It is just a few feet thick and perfect for marine mammals such as seals, and birds, especially penguins. The sea ice protected Antarctica from human invasion for thousands of years. |
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