Ice Caps

• Main Authors: Paul, Frank, Ramanathan, A.L., Mandal, Arindan
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Wiley 2017
• Subjects: Ice cap; ice core
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg0210; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2F9781118786352.wbieg0210; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg0210

An ice cap is a specific type of glacier that is characterized by its radial flow and complete coverage of the bedrock; it is generally dome‐shaped with smooth surface slopes. Ice caps can be found in all glacierized regions, they can have any size (from 0.01 to 20 000 km 2 ) and shape (from near circular to highly irregular), and have a number of characteristics that deserve special description. In particular their high climate sensitivity and their suitability as a paleoclimatic archive (e.g., for ice core drilling) are noteworthy. As they are also located on still active volcanoes, their melting during an eruption can threaten the population living nearby with lahars and jokulhaups . For several reasons, ice caps have not yet been properly indexed in glacier inventories, so we do not know exactly how many of them exist.