How Do Glaciers Move? TIMELAPSE! | Earth Science

A timelapse allows us to see glaciers move and understand how their movement works.
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Secret Life of Ice
Ice is one of the strangest, most beguiling and mesmerising substances in the world. Full of contradictions, it is transparent yet it can glow with colour, it is powerful enough to shatter rock but it can melt in the blink of an eye. It takes many shapes, from the fleeting beauty of a snowflake to the multi-million tonne vastness of a glacier and the eeriness of the ice fountains of far-flung moons. Science writer Dr Gabrielle Walker has been obsessed with ice ever since she first set foot on Arctic sea ice. In this programme she searches out some of the secrets hidden deep within the ice crystal to try to discover how something so ephemeral has the power to sculpt landscapes, to preserve our past and inform our future.
Welcome to BBC Earth Science! Here we answer all your curious questions about science in the world around you (and further afield too). If there’s a question you have that we haven’t yet answered let us know in the comments on any of our videos and it could be answered by one of our Earth Science experts.

[@emoboy9048]

Hell no!! I'd feel like I was descending into my grave. Brave woman!

[@heenanaz953]

Okay I'm suffocating just by seeing her descending down through the crevices.

[@monkeyman8393]

I don’t know if seeing glaciers myself makes me more terrified or less but I’m with you buddy

[@AlisonBryen]

Same. It's so interesting to see, but it is triggering my claustrophobia!

[@sreenjaysen927]

This is probably one of the most insane tasks done on TV.

[@ProdFluxoxo]

No kidding, and it didn't even seem to phase her.

[@fahimsiddique5437]

Curiosity has driven her to the state of fearlessness. Amazingly beautiful work!

[@silvermica]

I was thinking exactly the same thing.

[@nathanielclaycamp9796]

hehe 69 likes

[@geraldfrost4710]

I'd have thought she'd have some sort of rope on just to walk across the glacier, but she seemed to know what she's doing. As to dropping down inside, wow! Going to the bottom of a moving ice pile is NOT my idea of safe! I've gone cave diving, but this seems like tempting fate! "This cave wasn't here last year, and it probably won't be here next year." If it's that dynamic, I wouldn't want to be in the cave when it changes. When it toggles, occupants become pancake shaped.

[@ismailhassan-tc4sg]

.

[@spamslurper7409]

Anyone else seen videos of people stuck in those and she just goes straight in with a huge smile on her face?!

[@jason3tears]

All the questions I had about my newfound, middle of the night and procrastination-inspired fascination with glaciers have now been answered. Great vid and shout out to r/TIL for sparking my caffeine-infused interest and letting me avoid studying a little longer

[@geologuia]

We protected them kzbin.info/www/bejne/oIemkoOEjbeJiNE

[@martinreid2352]

That's ironic, because I'm here as a part of my studies - it was assigned by one of my professors!

[@LocalRando_]

Who's here because of online school?

[@vikrenardy3112]

me

[@Sxtq_]

Me

[@arestaken3084]

Me

[@jackhorne7397]

Me 😂😂😂

[@ollybarr2732]

me

[@JHA854]

Earth is amazing.

[@MusicEchos]

You can watch ice movements in ditches after a heavy snow then a slight warming. The packed snow turns more into ice as it slides down the sides. Then as it slides down the slanted property into the neighbors property it shrinks as it melts, refreezes, and serves as a slide for kids.

[@WonderfullyMade_Lex]

This was so fascinating. The time lapse brought me to awe.

[@annehalecott]

Why isn't she wearing a helmet??

[@Barzins1]

I wouldn’t be caught dead in there.

[@geraldfrost4710]

Oh, contrare! If you were caught in there, you WOULD be dead! What you mean is you wouldn't go in there. (Me neither!)

[@massatube]

She's a braver man than me. I wouldn't go down on a glacier. lol

[@nationalcitysycho]

WELL ... cemetery is full of brave people

[@jdd6447]

It's because she is married to a drunk.

[@geraldfrost4710]

@@nationalcitysycho Every body on Mt Everest was once a highly motivated person.

[@ReaperCheGuevara]

My cousin used to do glacier tours in Alaska. They would land helicopters on glaciers all the time.

[@buttonz8646]

@@nationalcitysycho fr bro, imma use that phrase

[@tsuchan]

Nice. That's the most interesting Earth Lab video I've seen so far.

[@terrylap6132]

If I went into that crevice, I would’ve developed instant claustrophobia.

[@sandmanjono1239]

Fascinating- Mother Nature as ever truly awesome!

[@evachen5939]

You learn something new everyday

[@fredMplanenut]

It is amazing to be under a glacier and hear the creaking noises. Also, fascinating is the blue of the ice with the light refracting through it.

[@meng-chichang3097]

This is an amazing video!!! Thank you!

[@Zantagiro]

beautiful!

[@saileekasbe7207]

Appreciate your work 🙏

[@ericamcqueen5607]

2:33 *I thought there was a corpse in the corner, scared the hell out of me*

[@harshanigamage-sinhala]

Me too

[@harshanigamage-sinhala]

I think its a corpse 🤔

[@stnicholas54]

It IS a corpse.

[@schmenkspeedtyping218]

Where?

[@donaldthompson6934]

👀

[@gunturjeans2695]

Look at what the captions say at 1:03 😂

[@samnorthall3394]

oh my

[@RossAllaire]

LOL I knew it!

[@snowkittten]

Picked the wrong week to comment this 😅

[@michaelselz3389]

Niggas brain surface ice?! Wtf

[@davidaugustofc2574]

It was removed from the captions but I can hear it! 😂

[@quaidcarlobulloch9300]

She seemed so stoked to be there. Really cool to see.

[@tusharthakar5417]

Thank you bbc BBC

[@christylake2960]

Yep...she fearless!!

[@JWCreations]

Surprised to see her abseiling without a helmet!

[@deshmukhg9]

Great work

[@Mizamook]

Superb video! Beautiful!

[@zafarali-vx6me]

Amazing....

[@theoldleafybeard]

Amazing! And please remember, folks: Always carry a piolet when using crampons. They go together as essentials one to the other.

[@DaveDott]

So friggin cool

[@toniturnwald9890]

It's very good explained. Thank you. cheerio Toni

[@Skullking489]

Not really, she only talked about how a glacier slides if it's in a warm summer environment. But what she doesn't mention is how glaciers move in their natural sub zero environments, because they move all year round. In addiction to melt-water sliding, glaciers will travel at temps below zero degrees Celsius due to pressure melting at the bottom of the glacier because the melting point of ice lowers under extreme pressure. Also if the glacier is greater than 120 ft thick and has no water for lubrication, then the upper mass of the glacier will move by a mechanism called deformation, which is where the bottom portion of the glacier stays stationary due to friction, but the upper portion deforms and continues to travel down elevation. Vast regions of Antarctic Ice never melts, but the glaciers will still travel great distances because of pressure melting and deformation.

[@toniturnwald9890]

Hello to you, thank you for your additional information. I looked at the film again and yes, you were right. She only talks about his moving during summer time. I already know the fact, that glacier slides also in winter or at the other times, because I live in the mountains here in Bavaria. But during the summertime, they move quite faster than when it's winter. It has also to do with the weight of the glaciers, if it's a light one, it would be moving quite slower than a big one, also it has something to do with the inclinationangle of the mountain and a few other parameters. But anyway, for peoples who want to know the basics, the film is still OK, I think. But you can correct me if I'm wrong. cheerio Toni

[@ofantasticlou]

wow.... it’s amazing

[@sooryanarayanan4273]

Beautiful video

[@HawthorneHillNaturePreserve]

She is VERY brave!

[@reseviladik]

GIRL! you are so brave

[@vibhorgupta4966]

Nice and knowledgeable video

[@abdullahhussain8292]

Great, always good to know a bit of geography especially as I am studying it for GCSEs

[@Simp_Zone]

This made me thirsty! The melt water looks refreshing!

[@donaldthompson6934]

2:16 👀how was that amazing.more like an ice grave to me.whewwwww she is very brave.

[@tonil.476]

brave or stupid...

[@renh921]

breathtaking reporting 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@muhammadnasim8248]

Best and bravest video I have ever watched

[@bucketlisttrek3863]

My favourite.

[@caseystu123]

I stood below a glacier in Chamonix. It was a beautiful experience but I quickly became nervous that it could swallow me whole.

[@sandysandy967]

Hi, is there any studies done on movement of water in glaciers in different mountains types??

[@brutefrog5744]

No.

[@atrivm3949]

crazy women waking past all those barely visible cracks in the ice as if its nothing special.. xD respect

[@relytlirpa]

ATRIVM I couldn’t hear a word she said over the clanging of those massive balls.

[@user-vx8qt9cd8o]

ATRIVM it looks loke a dry glacier, so there should not be any hidden crevases

[@DereC519]

that's so cool

[@s4leeha]

the ice at the lower end of the glacier has a lower melting point

[@YourGirlPratiksha]

FUN FACT : 2:30 i see a face in that rock😵😵😵 anyone else?

[@phsal5182]

very interesting

[@sweetskeetz]

maxxing my anxiety out

[@jogofi4592]

The way she says crevases or however you spell it

[@wishgodgirl1903]

Yes a mighty brave woman...

[@AbdulMajid-vt8mj]

Wow

[@danielcostilla7254]

This is a brave woman !!!

[@alicesacco9329]

It's just like water, they even have little river of snow that enter in the main river.

[@vertical.poetry]

This woman has my dream job.

[@fansofelias]

cool

[@JadedChameleon]

Brave or crazy. Wow.

[@mr.elormphysicsandmaths7279]

The lady is brave. Wow

[@Hwoman1123]

I've always dreamed to b someone like her

[@carcinogenicthalidomide3057]

I hope you achieve your goals. All the best!!

[@Hwoman1123]

@@carcinogenicthalidomide3057 ur wish means a lot. thanks

[@pierre-marielefeuvre830]

Please credits the people who took the time lapse pictures, meaning the university of Oslo and partners. contact me please.

[@jonathonprestonemail]

BBC...where is the helmet on that woman abseiling into a glacier.

[@cher8005]

Do you think they told this woman about how glacial crevasses frequently break and cave in and how many Sherpas lose their lives every year to these catastrophes on Mount Everest? I'm pretty sure she'd have been asking for an increase in pay if she knew how frequently this kind of thing happens and how fatal it can be.

[@garrenshot]

No kidding my god

[@mounirab96]

I bet one cup of that crispy water will rejuvenate every sell of my body!

[@alkalinelifestyle638]

I highly doubt I could go down those glaciers for a million pounds 😵

[@tusharthakar5417]

Good beautiful greetings globe glaciers

[@ritensherpa2238]

The information was appreciable but safely always comes first! Why she’s not wearing helmet? & she was walking on the glacier without rope up? I was wondering who was the technical team behind the scene?

[@geraldfrost4710]

She's under a glacier, soaked with melt water. That says there's at least a team near by with dry clothes and warm towels.

[@vaxy150701]

In the end looks like she heard something. Started running for her life.

[@2jojojojojojo]

Looks a lil' chilly Lol

[@Numocron]

Oh wow man.😃

[@sameenashaukat4186]

It may be soooo cold...omg

[@oldfarmer9004]

To understand that at any second the crevices could shift and close scares me into never going there. Its beautiful and all but no thanks!

[@jasonplayz6900]

2:12 didnt know that you can find ravines in ice biomed

[@candymanmax]

Maybe a mod?

[@BuzzCruise5743]

Go to Khumbu Ice fall nd show it there

[@user-xs5tp2lm2u]

♡

[@marek123454321]

The place points out like bottom of the glacier is definitely not the bottom !!!! It's just a bit of sediment deposed in small crevasse!!!

[@Jv2332]

Mr cartlidge is a ledgend

[@anwarfellahi3673]

you didn't mention where the glacier is situated

[@rcnewman51.]

1:02 *AYOOO!*

[@mannanakhtar6488]

2:32 Am I the only one who can see a face on that rock?

[@user-s3ts8my2x]

I can see it too, Ur on about the grey one with frost on it right?

[@cmdmd]

That’s a dumb risk.

[@samtheriverspirit2536]

i’m tryna live down there no cap

[@matthewhickey8291]

Hello

[@paulreckless]

spooky

[@tegnio1293]

What is the name of the Glacier?

[@ROGER2095]

Wally. But his friends call him Slick.

[@--sql]

Nigardsbreen in Norway 2:52 in the video

[@WG55]

@Poop Fingers Thank you. It sounded like she was saying "Niggard's Brain" and I was confused.

[@williamgwyntreharne9966]

One of the pictures shows dark rocks which should be whitewashed to help slow glacier melting.

[@tusharthakar5417]

Good greetings for all holy greatest glory glaciers naturally good views

[@NathanFletcher123]

Ice age baby

[@efikeffect4454]

Why is it glitching?

[@matttownsend7119]

Nice explanations, but the TIMELAPSE was only 1/6 of the whole thing.

[@sashadsouza1373]

Don't you get scared like if it falls on you

[@geraldfrost4710]

That would be flat-out terrifying.

[@TheraPi]

Not smart going down in those cracks...

[@micahphilson]

You know they had an expert go in first, though, and a cameraman was also at the bottom as she abseiled down. Still terrifying, but the BBC doesn't take risks.

[@Shubhamforall]

Uff 💫✨👏🏻

[@chadrotater2577]

THE SOUND IS TOO LOW

[@johnwiyrick2637]

She has some brass.

[@bennieknape4857]

I think it's a 500 m tick not 500 m deep! Get a grip it's slippery it's ice!

[@tatit188]

2:30 does anyone else see a stone face with mustaches 😁

[@stephanie7685]

yall saw the captions at 1:00 orr

[@qwertyTRiG]

Tom Scott explained this: the front falls off.

[@ArcticYachts]

We are a bunch of sailors who took some nice glaciers footages up in the Arctic! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnmconaZipyMopY