Glacier Ice Features

blue water pond on top of glacial ice with mountain in background — A supraglacial lake in Wrangell St. Elias National Park & Preserve, Alaska. Water on glacier iceappears blue due to Rayleigh Scattering, the same phenomenon that makes the sky appear blue.
NPS Photo.

Active glaciers often have distinct features that are associated with the flowing, melting ice. You can see many of these features in parks with glaciers. Look for:

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Geologic Resources Division
Crevasses
Crevasses are cracks that form in glacier ice when flow is too fast for the ice to deform by creeping.
Geologic Resources Division
Ice Falls
Ice falls in a glacier are like water falls in a river. They form in steep sections of the glacier and are characterized fast flow that can cause the ice to break into seracs.
Geologic Resources Division
Seracs and Icebergs
Seracs and icebergs are blocks of ice that have detached from the main glacier.
Geologic Resources Division
Glacier Ice Caves
Melting at the margin of a glacier may cause small caves to form within the ice, between the ice and the bedrock, or between the ice and the sediment beneath it.
Geologic Resources Division
Glacier Ice Caves
moved to https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/glacier-ice-caves.htm
Geologic Resources Division
Tarns
Tarns are lakes that form in glacially-carved cirques. They are often dammed by moraines. If they are still associated with moving glaciers, tarns are often full of tiny, glacially-ground sediment that scatter light and can make the water appear colorful.
Geologic Resources Division
Jökulhlaups
Jökulhlaups (an Icelandic word pronounced yo-KOOL-lahp) are glacial outburst floods. They occur when a lake fed by glacial meltwater breaches its dam and drains catastrophically.