This Systems Diagram is taken from S-cool revision website and shows the key Inputs, Processes and Outputs, which occur in glaciation.
Ablation - The melting of the ice, mainly during summer months, and usually at the snout end of the glacier.
Accumulation - The build up of the glacier due to snow being compacted into ice.
Calving - The splitting of the end of the glacier into smaller sections. These could become icebergs, if the glacier snout ended in the sea. .
Glaciation - The effect of large masses of ice on the landscape. Compressed snow accumulates to eventually form ice and create a glacier.
Ice Sheets - These are large masses of ice which cover an entire land surface. Antarctica is the best example as the ice sheet covers the entire continent.
Snout - the lower end of the glacier.
Valley Glaciers - The most common of the two types of glacier. These are confined by the valley sides that have already been carved out by a river. Valley glaciers can be found in all the main mountain ranges of the world, such as the Franz Josef Glacier in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, and the Rhone Glacier in Switzerland.
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