What causes alpine glaciers to flow?
Glaciers always flow downhill under the influence of gravity. The impression is often that the glacier moves as a unit, almost like a giant snake slithering down the valley. Scientists have been studying the Athabasca Glacier for many years now, and have come up with some fascinating details of how glaciers move. They don’t move as a unit, but rather like a thick liquid. By placing stakes at regular distances across the surface of the glacier, they have proven that the centre of the ice moves faster than either side. In a cross-sectional view, the glacier moves fastest at the surface, and moves progressively slower as the depth from the surface increases. It moves the slowest at its contact point with the valley floor.
