Glacier Word Search Glossary ShareTweetPin0 Shares ablation: loss of ice from a glacier caused by melting or vaporization accumulation: any process by which a glacier gains mass; usually by snowfallbut also by avalanching, wind-drifted snow, etc. advance: when a mountain glacier’s lowest end extends farther down-valley thanbefore calving: process of ice breaking off and falling at a glacier’s end crevasse: an open fissure in the glacier surface firn: rounded, well-packed snow that is older than one year glacier: a large flowing ice mass ice sheet: a dome-shaped mass of glacier ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greaterthan 50,000 square kilometers retreat: when the position of a mountain glacier’s lowest end is farther up-valley thanbefore snow: A collection ofloosely bonded ice crystals deposited from the atmosphere. Return to Glacier Word Search