GLACIERS And ICEBERGS - - -(This is the Last COLD E.W.P., in Two Parts.)

Part One - GLACIERS -

These Great Moving Sheets of Ice!, -Ice Rivers, to be More Exact, are a Uniquely Interesting Cold Area of our World, All their Own! Malaspina, Aletsch, Hubbard, and so Many Others!

If our World is yet so Glaciated Now, Think how it Must have been, in even Colder of Times!

Now Along with All these Well Known, and Not so Well Known Glaciers, are Both the Mountain and Continental (Gr. & Ant.) Ice Sheets from which they Spawn, and the Icebergs and Moraines which they Leave Off in their Wakes. These are All Parts of our Wild Iced World.

What Ice Water in it's Frozen Form Does!, on our Planet! Of just What this Interesting World Ice Phenonomom Actually Is! They Together are a Great Assemblage of Uniquely Cold Wild Places, in their Own Right! There's Nothing Else Like Them!, on our Planet! OK, Things like Landslides and Lava Flows could be Somewhat like them, to a Point. But Other than That!,.....Ice and our World! It can Really be Something!

Includeing on How Many Times this Planet's been in the Grip of Ice Ages, (As Well as Warmer Times than Now!), and the One or Ones to which we Shall No Doubt Return!

Will Mankind as a Whole be Prepared and Ready for It?! Global Warming or No!, This Renewed Ice Time is Coming Sometime too!, and We're Gonna Have To be Prepared and Ready for It! We Must Think over More than Only our Short, Immeadiate, Here and Now, of Terms!

The Great Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets, Continental in Scope, and Often Two Miles High!, are Phenomomal in their Own Right! They are at the Heart of Most of our World's Iceberg Activity. Nearly All of the World's Icebergs are Born that way. They have already been Well Addressed, back in the "Antarctic Icesheet" and under the "Greenland Icecap." But their Icebergs of which they Spawn, were Not. It is Time to Discuss them now.

So Back to Glaciers and Icebergs In and Of Themself now! As we Know and Experience Them in our World right now. First Off is the Glaciers.

Most, but Not All the World's Glaciers, Fall Directly off the Continental Ice Sheets. Of the Greenlandic and Antarctic Sort.

But some also Calve Off of the *Non*-Polar, High Mountain Glaciers of the World, wherever they may reach the Sea. Those Mountaintop Ice Fields. Such as Canada's Colombia Icefield and Iceland's Massive Vatnajokull! They may Pale Next to those of Greenland and Antarctica!, but can Still be Absolutely Huge!, on our Own Human Scale! They even make their Appearance on Equatorial Mountaintops, such as Kilimanjaro and the Peaks of the Peruvian and Ecaudorian Andes!

Ice Does Flow, however, and Off into Downflowing Glacial Flows they shall Go. They so Fan Out, from their Mountaintop Parent Ice. Snaking Downward, they take the Path of Least Resistance, Gouging Out Great U Shaped Valleys, as Today are Very Evident in Places like Norway. Ice Moves! Seemingly Solid, It is at least Semi-Liquid! Gravity Governs. Downslope toward the Lowlands they go!

Sometimes they even Reach the Sea. Then Glacier Borne Iceberg Calving Begins. Ice Chunks Great and Small Chip Off! Thundrously Crashing to the Waters Below! Creating Immense, Far Sweeping Waves! Do Not Expose Yourself to either of these Dangers! Do Not Position Yourself into such Close In, Harm's Way! You Don't Want to be Under or Near Such!, at Such Time! Sometimes they'll be Chipping Off in Rapid Succession!

Some of this Glacier Calving even happens in Antarctica and Greenland. But Bergs the World Over, are Far from Limited to just that! But Regular Glaciers too Play their Part.

Glaciers and Ice Sheets are What Created such Things as Cape Cod, Long Island, and the Great Lakes! They Plowed In the Rich Soils which now Make Up the American Great Plains and Canadian Breadbasket! This is Why the Rock of the Canadian Shield now Stands Exposed! Our Continental Glaciers and Ice Sheets *Exposed* It!

Rich,Swift Meltwater Streams form Atop, Inside, Underneath, and Ahead of the Glacier!

The Vary Greatly in Volume and Magnitude, Depending on the Time of Day, of When, Whether, and How, the Sun may be Up! It may somewhat Approach a Trickle when you Awaken in the Morning, yet be a Roaring Torrent, Once the Afternoon and Evening's Well On!

This Provides you with a Rich and Ready Fresh Water Source! Even in Weaker Running Times!

But be Alert and Careful in Crossing or Trying to Cross Glacial Streams!, as you would with Any Others! -Even More So! This is an Important Glacial Survival and Safety Point to be Aware of!

For Atop the Glacier, to Name just one such Danger, Water could be Coursing thru a Deep and Smoothly Cut Channel! Not Only will it Sweep you Down and Away!, and Hypothermically at that! -But you Won't be Able to Climb Up Out of it! It's a High, Vertical or Nearly Vertical, Slippery and Smooth Surfaced Wall! Just Try Climbing Up Out of That! So Better Yet, Be Ever Watchful and Careful!, so as Not to Fall so In in the First Place! These Glacial Surface Streams also Often Lead Deep Into the Glacier Itself! The Ice Equivalent of an Underground River. In Addition to All Dangers already mentioned, You could Now at Times be Without Any Air!, Down There. And it's Gonna be as Dark Night Down There too! You probably Won't Make It Back Out Alive, in any event! So as with an ordinary Crevice, or Cliffedge, (Glaciers have these too!), Don't Find Yourself Falling Off or Over! Don't just Carelessly Slip or Fall into One! Preparedly, Observationally, and Thoughtfully so Seek to Avert and Avoid All Such!

These Great Crevices can Appear Any Time and Any Where! They can even at least Begin to Open!, Right Before your Feet! Or Underneath. Such as Ones Thinly Covered with Ice or Snow! They can Snap and Crack Open on you at Any Time!

These Crevices can be Hundreds of Feet Deep! You're in effect Falling Over, and Into, an Ice Cliff! And Wedgeing Yourself into an Ice Vise!

Be Ever Alert to, and Aware of!, -Their Potential Prescence and Dangers! Do you Really Want to Be Stuck in a Hole, a Cold Hole, that you Can't just get Out of! And with perhaps a Cold Night's Darkness Beginning to Descend?! Think of it That Way! Know How Best to Safely Cross or Circumvent them! Ropes and Other Crevice Extrication Gear can be a Very Good Idea, and a Must!

On and Around a Glacier, -There are also Many Steep Sided Glacial Ice Cliffs! Of Varying Heights. Climbing Knowledge, Equipment, and Techniques, particularly those in Ice Climbing, Come into Vital Play here!

On a Glacier, Pay Attention to Each Step! You may Be Glad that you Did! You may Pay Dearly if you Don't! This Isn't any Walk Across the Lawn or Park! This Applies even More so in Glacier Travel, than in Many Other Outdoor Activities or Survival Tasks! Much as It Very Much also Applies in Those!

On a Glacier, at least you can Note which way the Water's Flowing, as an Indication of it's Down End, and Lower Altitudes. Though the Latter may be Fairly Obvious Otherwise.

Some Glaciers are Quite Wide, as well as Long, in Extent! Many Undulations may Pervade your Surface. You so may Well Not be Able to See Much Around you for Much of a Distance!

And There's the Ever Present Danger of a White Out Forming Up on you!, as in Any Other Arctic or Cold Weather Situation.

Weather Otherwise can Make Turns for the Worse on a Dime! You can be the On Scene Effectee here!

You'll See Much Rock and Soil Mixed in with your Glacial Ice, in Varying, Alternating Bands. Glaciers are a Good Ways from being 100 % Total Ice!, and You'll in all Great Likelihood be Seeing Such! -Don't Be Surprised!

I'm Sure there's Other Good and Important Glacial Survival Tips that have Not been Mentioned.

But a Final One which Does now Come to Mind, is, -To Get Off the Glacier. Work Towards Doing This! Unless, of course, it's Really the Best Way and Means of Travel, in your Given Situation of the Moment. Or you in a Similar Way Must Cross It. But Otherwise, Try to Avoid Glacier Crossings and Travel!, for the Most Part! And Make Sure you Carefully Know What you're Doing!, if you Do!

Food, Shelter, and Firewood Materials on a Glacier are just about Non-Existant! You've Got to Carry What you so Need there, in with you! Without of course Carrying Too Much.

Water is about the Only Survival Resource that's likely to be Naturally Plentiful, there on the Glacier's Surface.

And of course it should be Fairly Obvious, that Cold Survival, Plays such a Crucial and Central Role!, in Glacier Traverses and Survival!

These are the Glaciers of our World! And This is Safety and Survival On and Around Them! One might Not Readily Think of it! But Glaciers, along with Icebergs which are to Follow Next, are Truly one of the World's Great Wild Places!, -COLD!


A WORD ON ICE CAVES - Finally the Most Shimmering, Crystal Beautiful of Ice Caves!, Often Form on and within Glaciers! Oh!, -How I Personally Love Them! Beyond just such a Great Beauty!, There is also Such a Great Peace!

But This is to Come under the Purview of CAVES !, Here within Earth's Wildest Places. Later to Come. Not here under "Glaciers and Icebergs" or Earth's Wildest Places-COLD. Though it's Doubtless Also a Part of this Glacial World too!

A WORD ON AVALANCHES - The Allied Matter of Avalanches also will Not be Discussed here. It's a Great and Important Part of Both the COLD and MOUNTAIN Survival and Wild Place World's. But is of course by it's very Nature, Not a Specific Part of Wild Areas in Itself. And so Won't be Discussed as a Topic in Itself, -Anywhere here in EWP. It is of course a Type of Disaster, as Oppossed to an Area. There could be some Due Touching on it, every here and there. As we are Doing right now here. But No Area of Topical Addressage of it's Own! Brush and Bone Up on Avalanches though! And Be as Alert and Careful regarding These, as with Anything Else mentioned here!

-ICEBERGS WILL NOW BE NEXT !

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