Abstract

Glaciers and icefields are huge masses of ice, formed on land by the compaction and re-crystallization of snow, that move very slowly down slopes, or move outward due to their own weight. In Canada, an estimated area of 200 000 square kilometres, or about 2% of the country’s area is covered by glaciers and icefields. A huge quantity of freshwater is frozen in the polar ice caps and in high mountain glaciers. Glaciers and icefields are found in Western Cordillera and the mountains in the eastern Arctic. At present there are no reliable figures on the total number of glaciers in Canada. Glaciers exert a direct influence on the hydrologic cycle by slowing the passage of water through the cycle. Like groundwater, glaciers are excellent natural storehouses of water.