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NASA » Greenland Glaciers Flow Into A Dry Valley
Glaciers in Western Greenland Flowing into a Dry Valley
September, 2009 satellite images released by NASA's Earth Observatory.
| This satellite image shows several small glaciers spilling into a mostly dry valley in western Greenland. The image
was captured on August 29, 2009. The Advanced Land Imager on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 satellite acquired this
natural-color image. This image shows most of the valley and the image below is a close-up of two glacier snouts. Image credit NASA / Earth Observatory. |
| This close-up image allows a clear view of both snouts’ rough surfaces. While ice at the bottom of a glacier generally
flows smoothly, the ice overhead is often brittle. As a result, the glacier’s movement causes ruptures on the ice
surface, which can be exacerbated by surface melting. Foehn winds—warm, dry, down-slope
winds—may contribute to glacier melt, and also keep the underlying valley mostly dry. The shallow, blue-green water
in the valley bottom is likely laced with rock flour left over from earlier glacial grinding of Greenland’s rocks. Image credit NASA / Earth Observatory. |
| This map shows the approximate location of where the image above were captured. |
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Image Information:
Multiple glaciers frequently flow into straight valleys in Greenland. The valleys result from
earlier glaciations that carved the bedrock. The smaller glaciers that flow into the valley may take
advantage of weak joints in the bedrock.
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 Team. Caption
by Michon Scott based on image interpretation by Ian Howat of the Byrd Polar Research Center and Ted Scambos
of the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
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