Glaciers are alive

As with all glaciers, the glaciers at the Durrand move more during the hot summer months. During the winter months the temperatures are cold and any lubricating water in between the glacial ice and the bedrock is missing.

With rising temperatures during the spring month, water forms and slowly works itself into the base of the glaciers. This creates a lubricating layer between the ice and the bedrock which allows the glacier to start flowing.

As the temperatures rise, snow and ice continue to melt, increasing the lubricating layer under the glacial ice. This in turn increases glacial ice flow. Crevasses widen, snow-bridges weaken and glacial seracs-towers and ice-cliffs fall into ice-avalanches.

At Durrand Glacier the glacial ice flows most rapidly from late June until mid August. This is not just due to the warm summer temperatures and the large amount of water working itself in between the ice and the bed-rock. It is the combination of these processes and also the large weight of the snow overlaying the glacier. This extra weight pushes the ice down.

Towards the end of August, when most of the snow is melted, the weight laying on top of the ice has been released and the glacier slows down. As the temperatures lower, the lubrication decreases rapidly and the ice hardly moves during the winter months.

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