noun
definition
A large permanent expanse of snow on a mountain or at the head of a glacier.
Examples of snowfields in a Sentence
Farther north in Montana, in spite of a decrease of height, there are to-day a few small glaciers with snowfields of good size; and, here the effects of sculpture by the much larger Pleistocene glaciers are seen in forms of almost alpine strength.
Beyond this point the Anglo-Russian Commission of 1895 demarcated a line to the snowfields and glaciers which overlook the Chinese border.
Along the Ruwenzori range are glaciers and snowfields nearly 15 m.
A district of considerable extent in the centre of the island is occupied by snowfields, whence glaciers descend east and west to the sea.
The Cascade Range is in essence a maturely dissected highland, composed in part of upwarped Colombian lavas, in part of older rocks, and crowned with several dissected volcanoes, of which the chief are (beginning in the north) Mts Baker (Io,827 ft.), Rainier (14,363 ft.), Adams (12,470 ft.) and Hood (11,225 ft.); the first three in \Vashington, the last in northern Oregon- These bear snowfields and glaciers; while the dissected highlands, with ridges of very irregular arrangement, are everywhere sculptured in a fashion that strongly suggests the work of numerous local Pleistocene glaciers as an important supplement to preglacial erosion.
The northernmost part of the coast ranges, in Washington, is often given independent rank as the Olympic Range (Mt Olympus, 8150 ft.); it is a picturesque mountain group, bearing snowfields and glaciers, and suggestive of the dome-like uplift of a previously worn-down mass; but it is now so maturely dissected as to make the suggested origin uncertain.
The climatic effects of relief are seen directly in the ascent of the higher mountain ranges to altitudes where low temperatures prevail, thus preserving snow patches through the summer on the high summits (over 12,000 ft.) in the south, and maintaining snowfields and moderate-sized glaciers on the ranges in the north.
This at any rate is the action of the Burgutai stream during certain seasons of the year, so that the glaciers and snowfields of the Nicolas range may be regarded as the chief fountain-head of at least two of the upper tributaries of the Oxus, namely, the Aksu (or Murghab) and the Pamir river, and as contributing largely to a third, the Ab-i-Panja.
Long sweeps of grassy upland bestrewn with boulders lead from the stream beds up to the snowfields, yellow, grey or vivid green, according to the season and the measure of sunlight, fold upon fold in interminable succession, their bleak monotony being only relieved by the grace of flowers for a short space during the summer months.
Here and there are large straggling snowfields, the largest being Glamu and Drangajokull,' on the culminating points of the plateau.
The glaciers which stream off from these snowfields are often of vast extent, e.g.
Some of these alluvial accumulations indicate a former greater extension of the snowfields that are now so restricted in the Spanish sierras.
Summer skiing occurs on permanent snowfields at a handful of North American resorts.
There are a combined 45 km of pisted runs; mostly on wide open snowfields.
Their extensive snowfields produce meltwaters that supply a network of alpine rivers, lakes and wetlands that are a source of the River Nile.
Regarding weather, large snowfields, strong winds and major snowstorms are a possibility.
The main snowfields comprise five separate areas of ice on the outer margins of Mount Puncak Jaya.
Nor are there any snowfields to feed rivers, as in the other continents.
They consist of slightly rounded domes or billowy snowfields of vast thickness.
The ridges rise by long, gentle slopes to flat summits, where often for many miles the sky-line is an almost straight crest, from which the rounded slopes of pure white snowfields descend towards the basins.