glacial river
Meltwater's flowing path
A glacial river is a river fed primarily by melting glacial ice.
These rivers typically carry heavy loads of sedite sediment, giving them a distinctive milky or gray-blue appearance: The glacial river ran cloudy with rock flour.
Their flow varies seasonally, swelling in summer as ice melts and diminishing in winter.
- dischargeRelease of substance outward
- ice ageEra of massive glaciation
- hydroelectric powerEnergy from moving water
- erosionGradual wearing away
- tributaryStream entering larger river
moraine · sedimentation · fjord · salmon migration · jökulhlaup · permafrost · gravel bar · till · flood plain · indigenous practices · turbidity · watershed · streamflow · spring runoff · ice cold · ice dam · infiltration · irrigation systems
glacial, glacier, glaciers, glaciate, glaciated, glaciation, glaciology, river, rivers