accumulation zone
Where snow persists
The accumulation zone is the upper portion of a glacier where annual snowfall exceeds melting, causing the glacier to gain mass.
Snow compacts into ice here before flowing downward toward the ablation zone, where melting dominates.
The boundary between them is the equilibrium line.
The term extends to any area where material builds up faster than it disperses.
- glacierSlow-moving ice mass
- ice sheetThick glacial landmass covering
- ice fieldExtensive glacial coverage
- glacial iceCompressed snow becoming solid
- snowpackAccumulated mountain winter layers
snow line · firn · ice · alpine · high altitude · crevasse · fresh powder · ablation · moraine · snowfall · compaction · headwall · cirque · equilibrium · mass balance · winter · elevation · precipitation
- glaciersglacier, crevasse, glacial movement, moraine, iceberg
- glacier featuresglaciers, crevasses, icebergs, ice shelves, firn
- Glaciologyglacier, crevasse, serac, firn, moraine
- glacier partsice fall, terminus, snout, toe, cirque
- snowpacksnow depth, snow cover, snowpack, powder snow, stratigraphy
- soil layersA horizon, B horizon, topsoil, subsoil, albic horizon