Ice cap

An ice cap is an ice mass that covers less than 50 000 km² of land area (usually covering a highland area). Masses of ice covering more than 50 000 km² are termed an ice sheet.

Ice caps are not constrained by topographical features (i.e., they will lie over the top of mountains) but their dome is usually centred on the highest point of a massif. Ice flows away from this high point (the ice divide) towards the ice cap's periphery.

Ice caps have significant effects on the geomorphology of the area they occupy. Plastic moulding, gouging and other glacial erosional features become present upon the glacier's retreat. Many lakes, such as the Great Lakes in North America, as well as numerous valleys have been formed by glacial action over hundreds of thousands of years.

On Earth, there are about 30 million km³ of total ice mass. The average temperature of an ice mass ranges between -20°C and -30°C. The core of an ice cap exhibits a constant temperature that ranges between -15°C and -20°C.

Mass media outlets prolifically misuse the term 'ice cap'. When referring to the increased ablation rates of the Greenlandic and Antarctic ice sheets and also the North Pole sea ice, the term 'Polar Ice Caps' is often used, incorrectly.

Vatnajökull is an example of an ice cap in Iceland.

Translation of "Ice cap"

Danish: Iskappe, German: Eiskappe, Spanish: Campos de Hielo, French: Calotte glaciaire, Italian: Cappa di ghiaccio, Dutch: IJskap, Portuguese: Calota de gelo, Slovenian: Ledeniška kapa, Vietnamese: Chỏm băng, Chinese: 冰盖.