Campo de Hielo / Ice Sheet
A mass of land ice that is sufficiently deep to cover most of the underly bedrock topography. An ice sheet flows outwards from a high central plateau with a small average surface slope. The margins slope steeply, and the ice is discharged trough fastflowing ice streams or outlet glaciers, in some cases into the sea or into ice shelves floating on the sea. There are only two large ice sheets in the modern world – on Greenland and Antarctica, the Antarctic ice sheet being divided into east and west by the Transantarctic Mountains; during glacial periods there where others.
Glaciar / Glacier
Glaciar se define como una masa de hielo en la superficie terrestre, que fluye pendiente abajo (por deformación interna y por deslizamiento en la base), y restringida por la topografía del entorno (por ejemplo las laderas de un valle o las cumbres que lo rodean); la topografía del lecho es la mayor influencia en la dinámica y pendiente de la superficie de un glaciar. El glaciar se mantiene por la acumulación de nieve en las cotas altas, balanceada por la fusión a cotas bajas o por la descarga al mar (IPCC, 2001). Casquete de hielo es una masa en forma de domo y que cubre la zona alta de una región (menor que 50.000 km2 de area terrestre) que es considerablemente menor en extensión que las sábanas de hielo (IPCC, 2001).
Glacier is defined as a mass of land ice flowing downhill (by internal deformation and sliding at the base) and constrained by the surrounding topography (e.g. the sides of a valley or surrounding peaks); the bedrock topography is the major influence on the dynamics and surface slope of a glacier. A glacier is maintained by accumulation of snow at high altitudes, balanced by melting at low altitudes or discharge into the sea (IPCC, 2001). Ice cap is a dome-shaped ice mass covering a highland area (less than 50,000 km² of land area) that is considerably smaller in extent than ice sheets (IPCC, 2001).
Plataforma de Hielo / Ice Shelf
A floating ice sheet of considerable thickness attached to a coast (usually of great horizontal extent with a level or gently undulating surface); often a seaward extension of ice sheets. Nearly all ice shelves are in Antartic.