I've been wondering what designates the difference between the two. Snowfields can be permanant, such as on the approach up to the top of Golden Ears or the one below the north face of Seymour. Is a glacier called a glacier because it is moving? And a snowfield just sits there. It stands to reason that glaciers would be bigger. Any thoughts anyone?

Simon

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Opportunity knocks, temptation kicks in the door.

Interesting topic,Simon.Two years ago I revisited permanent snowfields in the Colorado Rockies that I had first seen 25 years before.They no longer exist,basically due to climactic change.Not only are glaciers declining,but permanent snowfields are shrinking as well,including the one below Seymour.At the turn of the century,other such fields also existed on Bishop,Crown,and Cathedral,and have all but disappeared since...

glaciers have ice, and crevasses

snowfields are snow all the way down. it might be hard, frozen neve, but it isn't ice.

that's the main difference!

I agree with dru, and too many people get the two mixed up for some reason. I hear of glaciers on a hike so I plan or look forward to them but when I get there all I see is a permanent snow pack or snow field....its a little frustrating because to me the difference is obvious, but that might be because I have a lot of experience around them and know what to look for and expect. I prefer the looks of glaciers but prefer traveling on snow packs (as long as they are flat, they are too slippery if well angled)

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Why do they make 1 ply TP?

Thankyou gentlemen. Now I know and knowing is half the battle (yeah, I watched GI Joe years ago)

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Opportunity knocks, temptation kicks in the door.

A good example of a snowfield is the east face of Mt. Sedgewick, which you can see across Howe Sound as you drive through Britannia Beach. It seems like a glacier, until sometime in the fall you realize it has completely melted.

The standard approach to Camp Muir at 10,000' on Mt. Rainier is classified as a snowfield, even though it never melts and has a few crevasses.

So maybe the defining characteristic is as Dru said, being snow right to the bottom.

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Meet you at DYE-II?

"Crevasses" in a snowfield are usually just caused by snowpack glide, or are randklufts (moats between snow and rock). However, the name snowfield is often misapplied to firn-covered parts of glaciers. To be a true glacier, though, there must be ice present. The snow on Golden Ears does totally melt away in some years, but even on years when it doesn't, no ice is present.

The residence time of a water molecule in a snowfield is on the order of 2-3 years on average while for a glacier it can range from a few years up to tens or hundreds of thousands of years.

Watch out for those holes and thin spots from the melt water running under the snow pack aswell.

Googling "Define: Glacier" returns many results from sources including univerities, (US) national parks service, NOAA, and I believe, geographic agencies. All definitions I read agree on the following as key characteristics of a glacier:

1. It is a mass of ICE
2. It "moves" or spreads outward or downslope over time.

Now I know, glaciers in most every locale are receeding, so it's not easy to see the movement. However, if you were to embed a beacon or other transmission device into the center of a glacier, over time, you would see that device move in relation to where it was originally placed. The receeding characteristic we see is glacial melt from the perimiter of the ice sheet.

One note, none of the definitions I read list the presence of glaciers as a requirement to be classified a glacier.

The cracks present on snowfields, such as Muir, are termed "Glide Cracks".

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A trip is about the journey as much, if not more than about the destination. What is the joy in reaching your destination if you've ignored everything along the way?

Alex Lowe said it best: "The best climber is the one having the most fun."

sure, not all glaciers have crevasses. but all crevasses are in glaciers!

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