Glaciology

Lateral moraine on a glacier joining the Gorner Glacier, Zermatt, Swiss Alps. The moraine is the high bank of debris in the top left hand quarter of the image.
Glaciologist Erin Pettit in Antarctica, 2016

Glaciology (from Latin glacies 'frost, ice' and Ancient Greek λόγος (logos) 'subject matter'; lit.'study of ice') is the scientific study of glaciers, or, more generally, ice and natural phenomena that involve ice.

Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology, climatology, meteorology, hydrology, biology, and ecology. The impact of glaciers on people includes the fields of human geography and anthropology. The discoveries of water ice on the Moon, Mars, Europa and Pluto add an extraterrestrial component to the field, which is referred to as "astroglaciology".[1]

  1. ^ Williams, Richard S. (1987). "Summary Remarks". Annals of Glaciology. 9: 254–255. Bibcode:1987AnGla...9..254W. doi:10.3189/S0260305500000987.