{{short description|Permanent accumulation of snow and ice, usually in mountains or glaciers}} {{about|accumulations of permanent snow and ice|the UK indie rock band|Editors (band)}} {{confused|ice field}} [[File:Tarn_6320_feet_23126.JPG|right|thumb|Meltwater from snowfields fill tarns on Mount Rainier.]]
A '''snow field''', '''snowfield ''' or '''neve''' is an accumulation of permanent snow and ice, typically found above the snow line, normally in mountainous and glacial terrain.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Snowfield and neve|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.630200|access-date=2020-12-18|website=AccessScience|doi=10.1036/1097-8542.630200 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
Glaciers originate in snowfields. The lower end of a glacier is usually free from snow and névé in summer. In the upper end and above the upper boundary of a glacier, the snow field is an ice field covered with snow. The glacier upper boundary, where it emerges from under a snow field, is ill-defined because of gradual transition.<ref>Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin, Rollin D. Salisbury (1904) "Geology", [https://books.google.com/books?id=p0QNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA258&dq=%22snow+field+is%22 p. 258] <!-- a more modern reference would be preferred here --></ref>
==References== {{reflist}} {{commonscat|Snowfields}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snow Field}} Category:Bodies of ice Category:Landforms Category:Snow fields
{{geo-term-stub}} {{glaciology-stub}}