# Ice field

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{{Short description|Large area of interconnected glaciers}}
{{about|a large area of interconnected glaciers|the Henry Brant musical composition|Ice Field}}
{{distinguish|snow field|ice cap}}
[[File: Southern Patagonian Ice Field.jpg|thumb|The [Southern Patagonian Ice Field](/source/Southern_Patagonian_Ice_Field) between [Chile](/source/Chile) and [Argentina](/source/Argentina).]]
[[File:Harding Ice Field 2.jpg|thumb|The [Harding Icefield](/source/Harding_Icefield) on the [Kenai Peninsula](/source/Kenai_Peninsula) in [Alaska](/source/Alaska), United States.]]

An '''ice field''' (also spelled '''icefield''') is a mass of interconnected valley [glaciers](/source/glaciers) (also called mountain glaciers or alpine glaciers) on a mountain mass with protruding rock ridges or summits.<ref>{{Cite book|last=H.|first=Strahler, Alan|title=Introducing physical geography|date=2013|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-1-118-39620-9|pages=606|oclc=816479914}}</ref> They are often found in the colder climates and higher altitudes of the world where there is sufficient precipitation for them to form. The higher peaks of the underlying mountain rock that protrude through the icefields are known as [nunatak](/source/nunatak)s. Ice fields are larger than alpine glaciers, but smaller than [ice cap](/source/ice_cap)s and [ice sheet](/source/ice_sheet)s. The topography of ice fields is determined by the shape of the surrounding landforms, while ice caps have their own forms overriding underlying shapes.

==Formation==
Ice fields are formed by a large accumulation of snow which, through years of compression and freezing, turns into ice. Because of the susceptibility of ice to gravity, ice fields usually form over large areas that are basins or atop plateaus, thus allowing a continuum of ice to form over the landscape uninterrupted by glacial channels. Glaciers often form on the edges of ice fields, serving as gravity-propelled drains off the ice field which is in turn replenished by snowfall.

While an ice cap is not constrained by [topography](/source/topography), an ice field is. An ice field is also distinguishable from an ice cap because it does not have a dome-like form.<ref>Summerfield (1999). {{Full citation needed|date=June 2015}}</ref>

==Ice fields of the world==

===Asia===
{{Expand section|date=June 2008}}
There are several ice fields in the [Himalayas](/source/Himalayas) and [Altay Mountains](/source/Altay_Mountains) (the border range between the [Central Asian Republic](/source/Central_Asia)s and [China](/source/China)). One unexpected ice field is located in [Yolyn Am](/source/Yolyn_Am), a mountain valley located in the northern end of the [Gobi Desert](/source/Gobi_Desert).

===Oceania===
{{Expand section|date=December 2019}}
There are no ice fields in [Australia](/source/Australia).

[New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand) has 
* [Garden of Eden Ice Plateau](/source/Garden_of_Eden_Ice_Plateau)
* [Garden of Allah ice field](/source/Garden_of_Allah_ice_field)<ref>[http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?hl=en&sll=-43.461392,172.54921&sspn=0.242719,0.53009&ie=UTF8&ll=-43.318559,170.70488&spn=0.060823,0.197754&t=p&z=13 Map of the gardens]</ref>
* [Olivine Ice Plateau](/source/Olivine_Ice_Plateau)<ref>[http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?hl=en&geocode=&sll=-43.318559,170.70488&sspn=0.060823,0.132523&ie=UTF8&ll=-44.435741,168.370285&spn=0.056751,0.197754&t=p&z=13 Google map reference]</ref>

Reference:<ref>[https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1386h/nzealand/nzealand.html USGS SATELLITE IMAGE ATLAS OF GLACIERS OF THE WORLD, GLACIERS OF IRIAN JAYA, INDONESIA, AND NEW ZEALAND, GLACIERS OF NEW ZEALAND By TREVOR J.H. CHINN]</ref>

===Europe===
The only large ice fields in mainland Europe are in [Norway](/source/Norway) (e.g., [Dovre](/source/Dovrefjell) and [Jotunheimen](/source/Jotunheimen)). There are several dozen small ice fields in the [Alps](/source/Alps) and tiny remnants of permanent ice in [Sweden](/source/Sweden), the [Apennines](/source/Apennines), the [Pyrenees](/source/Pyrenees) and the [Balkans](/source/Balkans).<ref name=hiddeneurope>{{cite news|url=http://www.hiddeneurope.co.uk/of-glaciers-and-glacierets|title=Of glaciers and glacierets|year=2011|work=[hidden europe e-brief Issue 2011/35](/source/hidden_europe_e-brief_Issue_2011%2F35)|access-date=December 10, 2011}}</ref> Since the disappearance of the last remaining ice field in [Andalucía](/source/Andaluc%C3%ADa), with the disappearance of the [Corral del Veleta](/source/Veleta_(Sierra_Nevada)) glacier in 1913, the southernmost surviving permanent ice field in continental Europe is [Snezhnika](/source/Snezhnika) in [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria).<ref name=hiddeneurope/>

Beyond the mainland of continental Europe, there are substantial ice fields in [Iceland](/source/Iceland), [Svalbard](/source/Svalbard) and [Franz-Josef Land](/source/Franz-Josef_Land) and smaller surviving ice fields on [Jan Mayen](/source/Jan_Mayen) and [Novaya Zemlya](/source/Novaya_Zemlya).

===North America===
One of the more celebrated North American ice fields is the [Columbia Icefield](/source/Columbia_Icefield) located in the [Rocky Mountains](/source/Rocky_Mountains) between [Jasper](/source/Jasper%2C_Alberta) and [Banff](/source/Banff%2C_Alberta), [Alberta](/source/Alberta). Easy access by road contributes to the status of this ice field as one of the most visited in North America, although it is actually a comparatively small ice field within the huge and largely ice-free [American Cordillera](/source/American_Cordillera). <!-- the cordillera is a region not an Icefield. -->

Many particularly expansive ice fields lie in the [Coast Mountains](/source/Coast_Mountains), [Alaska Range](/source/Alaska_Range), and [Chugach Mountains](/source/Chugach_Mountains) of [Alaska](/source/Alaska), [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia), and the [Yukon Territory](/source/Yukon_Territory). The 6,500&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> [Stikine Icecap](/source/Stikine_Icecap) (located between the [Stikine](/source/Stikine_River) and [Taku River](/source/Taku_River)s) and the 2,500&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> [Juneau Icefield](/source/Juneau_Icefield) (located between [Lynn Canal](/source/Lynn_Canal) and the [Taku River](/source/Taku_River)) both straddle the British Columbian-Alaskan border. Farther north, the [Kluane Icecap](/source/Kluane_Icecap) &mdash; which feeds the immense [Malaspina](/source/Malaspina_Glacier) and [Hubbard Glacier](/source/Hubbard_Glacier)s as well as the [Bagley Icefield](/source/Bagley_Icefield) &mdash; sits upon the British Columbia-Yukon Territory-Alaska border and surrounds most of the [Saint Elias Mountains](/source/Saint_Elias_Mountains) as well as both [Mount Saint Elias](/source/Mount_Saint_Elias) and [Mount Logan](/source/Mount_Logan); it extends as far west as the [Copper River](/source/Copper_River_(Alaska)).

There are also large ice fields located in the [Kenai Peninsula](/source/Kenai_Peninsula)-[Chugach Mountains](/source/Chugach_Mountains) area, such as the [Sargent Icefield](/source/Sargent_Icefield) and the [Harding Icefield](/source/Harding_Icefield). Throughout the Alaska Range there also large icefields (including one surrounding [Denali](/source/Denali)) which are mostly unnamed.

===South America===
In [South America](/source/South_America) there are three main ice fields.

The main ice field, known as ''Campo de Hielo Sur'' ([Southern Patagonian Ice Field](/source/Southern_Patagonian_Ice_Field)) is located at the Southern [Patagonic](/source/Patagonia) [Andes](/source/Andes), and it is shared between [Chile](/source/Chile) and [Argentina](/source/Argentina). It is the world's second largest contiguous extrapolar ice field. At about 16,800 square kilometers, it is second only to southeastern Alaska's approximately 25,000 square kilometer [Kluane / Wrangell–St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek Ice Field](/source/Kluane_%2F_Wrangell%E2%80%93St._Elias_%2F_Glacier_Bay_%2F_Tatshenshini-Alsek_Ice_Field).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/72 |title=Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek |website=[UNESCO](/source/UNESCO) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224234804/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/72 |archive-date=2017-02-24 }}</ref> Another notable icefield is ''Campo de Hielo Norte'' ([Northern Patagonian Ice Field](/source/Northern_Patagonian_Ice_Field)), which is located entirely in [Chile](/source/Chile); and a third smaller icefield, known as the Ice Fields of the Darwin Range, which is located on the western ([Chile](/source/Chile)an) portion of [Tierra del Fuego](/source/Tierra_del_Fuego) [proper](/source/Isla_Grande_de_Tierra_del_Fuego).

==See also==
{{commons category|Ice fields}}
*[List of glaciers and icefields](/source/List_of_glaciers)
*[Nunatak](/source/Nunatak)

==Sources==
{{reflist}}

{{Earth's landforms}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ice Field}}
Category:Bodies of ice
Category:Ice fields
Category:Snow or ice weather phenomena
Category:Water ice

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ice field](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_field) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_field?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.