What happens when a glacier melts?
Rivers draining ice sheets and glaciers are among the most sediment-laden in the world, reaching a concentration of up to 40% by weight of mineral solids. The water comes from ice melt, and the sediment comes from fine particles of ground-up rock called glacial flour that are concentrated within the lower layers of the ice. Usually, glacial water is a battleship gray, but the water can take on the color of the local rocks, sometimes greenish, brownish, or pinkish tones of gray. 70 EARTH SCIENCE – Glacier winds 0 Why is it windy near the ice? Glacier margins are exceptionally windy places for two important reasons. First, during the summer, the abrupt contrast between reflective ice and absorbent land sets up a strong thermal contrast that produces intense winds called katabatic winds. Cold air above the glacier descends continuously towards its margin where it flows beneath the warm air rising above the land. The other reason involves the glacier as a topographic obstacle. Regional win
