glacier calving
Frozen cliff crumbling
Glacier calving is the process by which chunks of ice break off from the edge of a glacier, ice shelf, or iceberg and fall into water.
The detached pieces become icebergs or smaller ice fragments.
The term borrows from animal birth—the glacier "gives birth" to new ice masses.
We watched the glacier calving into the fjord below.
- icebergFloating glacial fragment
- crackNarrow break or attempt
- splashLiquid scattering on impact
- thunderousExtremely loud, resounding
- collapseSudden structural failure
ice · fjord · breakoff · falling ice · chunk · rumble · arctic · polar region · meltwater · sea level rise · climate change · crevasse · blue · frozen · massive · crash · tidewater · float
- polar regionsAntarctica, polar bears, Arctic Ocean, Arctic, Arctic Circle
- eco-disastersclimate collapse, oil spill, ocean warming, coral bleaching, biodiversity loss
- Arctic Phenomenaaurora borealis, Northern Lights, northern lights, polar night, midnight sun
- phenomenanorthern lights, eclipse, earthquake, solar eclipse, volcanic eruption
- collapsescollapse, bridge collapse, roof collapse, wall collapse, structural failure
- Alaska eventsIditarod, sled dog race, blanket toss
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