Glaciology is the scientific discipline devoted to the study of snow, ice, and glaciers as physical systems within the cryosphere. It examines the formation, metamorphism, and rheology of ice, the mass balance and dynamics of glaciers and ice sheets, and their interactions with atmosphere, oceans, lithosphere, and climate. Glaciological research employs field observations, remote sensing, geophysical surveying, ice-core analysis, and numerical modeling to quantify processes such as ice flow, basal sliding, calving, and meltwater production. The field is central to understanding sea-level change, paleoclimate reconstruction, freshwater resources, and feedbacks in the global climate system.
Berry Glacier, a tributary of the Getz Ice Shelf in West Antarctica, has deteriorated dramatically in the past three decades, according to researchers in the Department of Earth System Science at the University of California, ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 11, 2025
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Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica—often called the "Doomsday Glacier"—is one of the fastest-changing ice–ocean systems on Earth, and its future remains a major uncertainty in global sea-level rise projections. One of its ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 7, 2025
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Stanislav Kutuzov felt the drillhead he was controlling smash into the rock more than 100 meters below him high on a glacier in the Pamir peaks of Tajikistan. The ice core samples it took could help solve one of climate science's ...
Environment
Nov 7, 2025
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For nearly a decade, Leigh Stearns and collaborators aimed a laser scanner system at Greenland's Helheim Glacier. Their long-running survey reveals that Helheim's massive calving events don't behave the way scientists once ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 5, 2025
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A glacier on Antarctica's Eastern Peninsula experienced the fastest retreat recorded in modern history—in just two months, nearly 50% of the glacier disintegrated.
Earth Sciences
Nov 3, 2025
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An explorer and a glaciologist have embarked on a three-month mission to cross part of Antarctica on kite skis in search of ice that is 130,000 years old.
Earth Sciences
Nov 1, 2025
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A team of U.S. scientists has discovered the oldest directly dated ice and air on the planet in the Allan Hills region of East Antarctica.
Earth Sciences
Oct 28, 2025
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The cloudy, sediment-laden meltwater from glaciers is a key source of nutrients for ocean life, but a new study suggests that as climate change causes many glaciers to shrink and retreat, their meltwater may become less nutritious.
Earth Sciences
Oct 22, 2025
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For decades, researchers seeking to understand global climate change have analyzed ice cores drilled deep within the Antarctic ice sheet. This ice traps chemicals and bubbles of ancient air that tell the story of how Earth's ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 21, 2025
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The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is one of the most dynamic regions of the Antarctic continent. Much of its bed lies below sea level, making the region particularly sensitive to ocean warming. Understanding the development ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 16, 2025
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