Abstract
THE nature of the motion of glaciers has been the subject of an immense number of observations by Forbes, Agassiz, Schlagintweit, Tyndall, &c.. and the following facts amongst others have been established.2 (1) The velocity decreases gradually and continuously from the centre to the sides, where it is sometimes almost imperceptible, though in other cases it reaches one-third of its value at the centre. (2) The motion is in general continuous from day to day, and even from hour to hour. (3) The motion is generally most rapid at the hottest time of the year, and slowest at the coldest, the ratio being often 4 to 1. But the effect of temperature is at present by no means properly worked out.
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References
See Heim's "Gletscherkunde," published by Engelhorn, Stuttgart, 1885.
See NATURE, vol. xxxii. p. 16. and Helm, loc. cit. p. 315, who cites a paper by Matthews, Phil. Mag., 1869.
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MCCONNEL, J. On the Plasticity of Glacier and Other Ice 1 . Nature 39, 203–207 (1888). https://doi.org/10.1038/039203a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/039203a0