Glaciers (from the French glace, ice) are vast streams of ice which descend from the lower edge of the perpetual snows, like long icicles from a snow-covered roof. They follow the windings of the Alpine valleys, and terminate abruptly in a massive wall of ice, from beneath which the waters of the melting glacier escape, through a large icy vault.
MOST FAMOUS GLACIER
REGION
The mountain systems in the middle latitudes, with abundant snows and alternate warm and cold seasons, are most favorable to the formation of glaciers. The best known, and probably the most remarkable glaciers are those of the high Alps, in the heart of which are Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa, and the Bernese Alps. Late explorers have found large glaciers in the Caucasus and in the Himalayas, the last being of the grandest proportions. In the Scandinavia are many which descend, in the deep western fiords, nearly to the sea level.
In the New World glaciers are less frequent. On Mount Shasta and Mount Rainier fine examples are in evidence.
By far the most extensive glaciers however, are found on the snow-covered islands of the polar oceans.
Vast masses of ice, broken from the ends of these glaciers, form the enormous icebergs (mountains of ice) which are so numerous in the polar seas, and are transported by the currents even to middle latitudes.
CLIMATE AND WEATHER
The term climate is used to express the combination of temperature and moisture which prevails at any particular place, or, in more familiar terms, the prevailing weather.
The most prominent causes of diversity of climate are the heat of the sun, the respective position of land and water, and the elevation of land above the level of the sea. To these may be added, as producing considerable though less marked effects, the nature of the soil, the prevailing winds, the position of mountain ranges, and the currents of the ocean.