According to a recent study conducted by, the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Technology, GoI, the Pensilungpa Glacier (PG), located in Zanskar, Ladakh, is retreating due to an increase in the temperature and decrease in precipitation during the winters.
Glacial retreat
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Types of glaciersMountain glaciers These glaciers develop in high mountainous regions. The mountain glacier of Arctic Canada, Alaska, the Andes in South America, and the Himalayas in Asia are the largest glacier under this category. Valley glaciers They are commonly originated from mountain glaciers or icefields. These glaciers spill down valleys and look much like giant tongues. Tidewater glaciers These are valley glaciers that flow far enough to reach into the sea. These are responsible for calving out numerous small icebergs. Piedmont glaciers Piedmont glaciers occur when the steep valley glaciers spill into relatively flat plains, where they spread out into bulb-like lobes. Malaspina Glacier in Alaska is the largest piedmont glacier. Hanging glaciers When a major valley glacier system retreats and thins, then the tributary glaciers are left in smaller valleys high above the shrunken central glacier surface. These are called hanging glaciers. Cirque glaciers They are named for the bowl-like hollows known as cirques.They are typically found high on mountainsides and tend to be wide rather than long. Ice aprons These small, steep glaciers cling to high mountainsides. Like cirque glaciers, they are often wider than they are long. They are common in the Alps and New Zealand and cause avalanches there. Rock glaciers They are the combinations of ice and rock. Theirice may be confined to the glacier core, or may simply fill spaces between the rocks. Ice caps Ice caps are miniature ice sheets that cover less than 50,000 square kilometers. They are primarily formed in polar and sub-polar regions and are smaller than continental-scale ice sheets Icefields They are similar to the ice caps except that their flow is influenced by underlying topography, and they are typically smaller than ice caps. Ice streams These streams are large ribbon-like glaciers set within an ice sheet. They are bordered by ice that is flowing more slowly, rather than by rock outcrop or mountain ranges. Ice sheets Ice sheets are found now only in Antarctica and Greenland. These are enormous continental masses of glacial ice and snow that expands over 50,000 square kilometers Ice shelves They occur when the ice sheets extend over the sea and float on the water. They range from a few hundred meters to over 1 kilometer in thickness. Ice shelves surround most of the Antarctic continent. |
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