David Brooks’ Lexicon of Ice

July 26, 2024

Lexicon of various permutations of ice, as observed in Antarctica in January 2024:

Ablation Zone

Accumulation Zone

Active Layer

Anchor Ice

Avalanche

Bergschrund

Bergy Bit

Black Ice

Brash Ice

Break-Up

Calving

Crevasse

Crevasse Smoking

Crevasse Wall

Diamond Dust

Dirty Iceberg

Drift Ice

Equilibrium Line

Fast Ice

Firn

Frazil Ice

Frost Shattering

Frost Smoke

Glacial Retreat

Glacier

Glacier Snout

Glacier Table

Glacier Terminus

Glacier Tongue

Grease Ice

Green Snow

Growler

Hail

Hair Ice

Hoarfrost

Hummocky Ice

Ice Apron

Ice Blink

Ice Cap

Ice Cliff

Ice Fall

Ice Floe

Ice Flowers

Ice Foot

Ice Front

Ice Sheet

Ice Shelf

Ice Wedge

Ice-Smoothed Rock

Iceberg

Iceberg Erosion

Iceberg Waterlines

Icefield

Icicle

Lead

Meltwater Lake

Meltwater Stream

Moraine

Moulin

Multi-Year Ice

Needle Ice

New Ice

Nilas

Nunatak

Pack Ice

Pancake Ice

Permafrost Collapse

Polynya

Powder Snow

Pressure Ridge

Prowler

Rafting

Red Snow

Rime

Rime Mushroom

Rock Flour

Sastrugi

Serac

Sludge Ice

Slush

Snow

Snow Algae

Snow Bridge

Snow Patch

Snowdrift

Spindrift

Striations

Tabular Iceberg

Tide Crack

Trimline

Verglas

Water Sky

Windscoop

Young Ice

***

References to ice descriptions collected from Antarctic research station staff, in-situ. When a certain permutation of ice remained unclear, James H C Fenton’s A Field Guide to Ice, and Hadoram Shirihai’s 2nd edition of Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife served as resources.


This text is published on Art21.org in conjunction with the July 2024 Art21 READ interview with David Brooks, conducted by Gabe Beckhursst Feijoo, Big Question: How many words are there for Ice?