LANDSCAPE


Innuit terms for ice
apun - snow
apingaut - first snowfall
aput - spread-out snow
kanik - frost
anigruak - frost on a living surface
ayak - snow on clothes
kannik - snowflake
nutagak - powder snow
aniu - packed snow
aniuvak - snowbank
natigvik - snowdrift
kimaugruk - snowdrift that blocks something
perksertok - drifting snow
akelrorak - newly drifting snow
mavsa - snowdrift overhead and about to fall
kaiyuglak - rippled surface of snow
pukak - sugar snow
pokaktok - salt-like snow
miulik - sleet
massak - snow mixed with water
auksalak - melting snow
aniuk - snow for melting into water
akillukkak - soft snow
milik - very soft snow
mitailak - soft snow covering an opening in an ice floe
sillik - hard, crusty snow
kiksrukak - glazed snow in a thaw
mauya - snow that can be broken through
katiksunik - light snow
katiksugnik - light snow deep enough for walking
apuuak - snow patch
sisuuk - avalanche

Modern Western (science and non-science cultures)

ablation - the process of being removed. Snow ablation usually refers to removal by melting
accretion - growth of precipitation particles by collision of ice crystals with supercooled liquid droplets which freeze on impact

anchor ice - Submerged ice attached or anchored to the river bed, irrespective of the nature of its formation.
avalanche - large amount of snow that falls down a slope due to gravity
blizzard - winds of at least 35 miles per hour along with considerable falling and/or blowing snow reducing visibility to less than one-quarter mile for a period of at least three hours.
blowing snow - windriven snow
boilerplate - skiing term for ice that forms from liquid water (as opposed to compressed snow)
bottom ice - ice that is anchored to the bottom of a body of water and cannot float

border ice - ice formed along and fastened to the shore. Border ice does not extend the entire width across the river. Also called shore ice.

breakup jam- accumulation of broken ice pieces that restricts the flow of water; may contain frazil ice or remnants of freezeup jam.


candled ice - decayed sheet ice that takes the appearance of thin vertical crystals shaped like candles.
cellular ice - growing ice crystal that proceeds as a bunch of hexagonal prisms
corn snow - snow that has partly melted and refrozen and acts like ball-bearings
cornice - drift of snow that overhangs a precipice
closed cavity ice - a formation like depth hoar that forms from ground water in underground cavities
crushed ice - for cocktails crust - hard cohesive layer overtop of softer snow
crystal - regular arrangement of water molecules with long-range order
cubic ice - ice with cubic symmetry
dendrite - hexagonal ice crystals with complex and often fernlike branches.
depth hoar - large (one to several millimeters in diameter), cohesionless, coarse, faceted snow crystals which result from the presence of strong temperature gradients within the snowpack
dry accretion - accretion through sublimation
dusting - very light snowfall, usually of ice crystals that form in the lower atmosphere
evaporative icing - ice that forms in an engine due to the cooling effect from
evaporation of fuel
fast ice - sea ice that forms at the shore and remains fast
firn - glacial snow that has survived at least one season
flake ice - ice that is fractured parallel to the c-axis to create flakes
flurry - snowfall combined with wind frazil - fine, small, needle-like structures or thin, flat, circular plates of ice suspended in water. In rivers and lakes it is formed in turbulent water as supercooled water is brought to the surface
frazil pans - Sometimes referred to as pancake ice. Circular flat accumulations composed of frazil and slush ice with a raised rim; the shape and rim are due to repeated collisions. freeze - the process of solidification of water freezeup jam - accumulation of frazil that restricts the flow of water; may contain some broken border ice pieces. frost - ice that sublimates onto a surface
frozen water - water in the crystalline solid state
glacier - snow that accumulates over many years with sufficient weight to form ice under the surface
glaze ice - rain that falls on supercooled objects and immediately turns to ice
graupel - snowflakes that become rounded pellets due to riming. Typical sizes are two to five millimeters in diameter (0.1 to 0.2 inches). Graupel is sometimes mistaken for hail.
grease ice - a later stage of freezing than frazil ice when the crystals have coagulated to form a soupy layer on the surface. Grease ice reflects little light, giving the surface a matt appearance
hail - frozen raindrops
hardpack - snow that has been packed to the point where it does not yield to
body weight
hexagonal ice - ice with hexagonal symmetry
hoarfrost - frost that grows outward from its substrate
ice - crystalline water
ice I through ice IVX - different crystalline arrangements that form under various temperature-pressure situations. Read all about the potential hazards of ice IX in Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Cat's Cradle".
iceberg - part of a glacier that calves into the ocean and floats with the currents

ice cream - frozen mixture of water, sugar and fat that tastes delicious
ice embryo - sub-critical cluster of water molecules
ice floe - pack ice that is moving with ocean currents
ice lens - lens-shaped ice buildup that forms in soils where water moves through pores to join the crystal (responsible for frost heave)
ice shelf - glacial ice that flows out over the sea and remains attached to the glacier
ice stalagmites - stalagmites of ice that form on top of ice cubes when the freezing proceeds inward from the edges
ice wedge - water that freezes in the crevices of a rock and cause mechanical stress through expansion
ice worms - worm-like bubbles in ice cubes caused by exclusion of gas at the interface
igloo - snow house made by cutting blocks from windslab snow and arranging them in a dome
lake ice - ice that forms on top of a lake
metamorphism - changes in the structure and texture of snow grains which results from variations in temperature, migration of liquid water and water vapor, and pressure within the snow cover
mushy zone - region in which ice and solution co-exist
nacelle icing - ice formation on aircraft
needle ice - ice that forms in moist soil, dessicating the surrounding soil (see pipkrake)
neve - glacial ice formed by enormous pressure compressing snow
pack ice - long lasting ice cover over ocean water
pancake ice - circular flat accumulations composed of frazil and slush ice with a raised rim; the shape and rim are due to repeated collisions
permafrost - soil frost that doesn't melt in the summer
pingo ice - huge ice lens that forms underneath a pond causing a hill to rise up to 50m high
pipe ice - ice formation inside an enclosed pipe often rupturing the pipe
pipkrake - needle-like spicules of ice that grow out of the groundwater from moist, loose soil when there is no freezing in the ground; needles are about 1mm in diameter and can be several centimeters tall.
piste - slope of snow suitable for skiing
plate ice - ice that forms on top of still water
powder - new fallen snow that hasn't sintered or metamorphosed
precipitation - the accumulated depth of rain or drizzle and also the melted water content of snow or other forms of frozen precipitation, including hail
polycrystal - a snowflake composed of many individual ice crystals
quinzy - snow cave built from a pile of soft snow that is allowed to set
red snow - blooms of chlamydomonas nivallus in glacial suncups during the summer
rime - a deposit of ice formed when supercooled water droplets freeze on contact with an object river ice - ice that forms in a river
sastrugi - skier's term for snow that has melted into breaking waves from the sun
sea ice - ice that forms in salt water
shear walls - ice left along shoreline when a freezeup or breakup jam fails and moves downstream sheet ice - a smooth, continuous ice cover formed by freezing in the case of lake ice, or by the arrest and juxtaposition of ice floes in a single layer in the case of river ice. shorefast ice - sea ice that is anchored to the shoreline
sill ice - ice lenses that rupture the ground surface so that the ice is exposed
sintering - process of minimizing the surface area to volume ratio, similar to recrystallization
slab avalanche - avalanche that begins as a fracture in the surface slab
sleet - mixture of rain and hail
sluff avalanche - avalanche of powder snow much like a sandpile avalanche
slush - wet snow
snowbank - pile of snow from shoveling or plowing
snowcave - cavern dug out of a snow drift
snow core - a sample of snow, either just the freshly fallen snow or the combined old and new snow on the ground, obtained by pushing a cylinder down through the snow layer and extracting it
snowburst - very intense showers of snow, often of short duration, that greatly restrict visibility and produce periods of rapid snow accumulation
snow depth - the combined total depth of both old and new snow on the ground
snowdrift - snow that collects in a ridge due to wind
snowfall - the depth of new snow that has accumulated since the previous day or since the previous observation
snowflake - a cluster of ice crystals that falls from a cloud
snow flurries - snow that falls for short durations and which often changes in intensity. Flurries usually produce little accumulation
snow fort - protective walls built from snow blocks snow house - shelter built from snow with a roof
snow load - the downward force on an object or structure caused by the weight of accumulated snow
snowman - large balls of snow piled on top of one another to resemble a person
snowpack - the total snow and ice on the ground, including both new snow and the previous snow and ice which has not melted
snow squall - a brief, but intense fall of snow that greatly reduces visibility and which is often accompanied by strong winds
snowstorm - heavy snowfall, usually with wind
sublimation - the process in which ice changes directly to water vapor without melting, but also in meteorology the opposite process in which water vapor is transformed to ice (also called deposition)
suncups - depressions in the snow caused by sun melting
supercooled - the condition when a liquid remains in the liquid state even through its temperature is below its freezing point
supersaturation - the condition which occurs in the atmosphere when the relative humidity is greater than 100 percent
surface hoar - the deposition (sublimation) of ice crystals on a surface which occurs when the temperature of the surface is colder than the air above and colder than the frost point of that air
throttle icing - ice that forms in an engine due to the cooling effect of expansion in the carburetor
Tyndall figures - shapes with hexagonal symmetry formed inside an ice crystal due to melting
vein ice - ice in soil that encapsulates solid particles
vitreous ice - water in the solid state without long range order (i.e. a glass)
verglas - thin coating of ice over rocks
windpack - crust of snow formed by the action of wind

The definitions in this section are courtesy of Ken Muldrew (see the original at his Lexicon of Snow web page) images taken from the River Ice Guide and Glossary developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers