<p>The terrain in the photo is a glacier. There have been a number of incidents since early in World War 2 where aircraft have crashed into or attempted to land on glaciers in the Andes or Greenland, usually with catastrophic results. The aircraft concerned were usually large, multi-engine bombers or airliners. Occasionally there were a few survivors. With improvements in radar, weather forecasting and aircraft, such accidents are much less likely nowadays.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-16T10:01:50.897Z
What’s causing the irregularity and jaggedness of that glacier?
Arun S R
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-16T10:07:46.653Z
Mostly where it snags on rocks below, and sometimes irregularities are caused by melting and meltwater.
Michael Walsby
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-16T21:57:11.140Z
@ArunRajagopal, the irregularities show up anywhere the ice changes direction or speed, such as going around a corner or over the crest of a hill.
Mark
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-16T09:58:52.113Z
2019-11-16T09:58:52.113Z
Michael Walsby
<p>This is a large glacier calving event. Calving occur at the front of the glacier, probably a very wet (and likely warm based) glacier where a considerable amount of water is flowing out of the system (thus from the glacier to the sea). The amount of water is important as it can accelerate the ice flow speed on the valley floor, enabling the breaking of big ice chunks along the way. This is what typical calving events looks like: <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1216/c/images/calving1.gif" rel="noreferrer">https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1216/c/images/calving1.gif</a></p>

<p>When the glacier ice is moving fast in a valley, and encounter hard rock outcrops on the valley floor followed by sudden drops in topography the ice will break, making it what is known as an ice fall: <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1216/i/images/icefall1.gif" rel="noreferrer">https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1216/i/images/icefall1.gif</a> , or if the topography is moderate, seracs instead <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1216/s/images/serac1.gif" rel="noreferrer">https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1216/s/images/serac1.gif</a> .</p>

<p>But typical events of normal glacier dynamics as aforementioned does only answer a part of the question. What happened in these picture is that the glacier chunks went seaborne, in a fjord, after a big calving event. The fjord prevent the glacier fragments to spread, forcing these to move along the fjord. This next picture as reported by ABC news show a big calving event that happened in Greenland in 2018, similar to the picture you are showing:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/QqNMa.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/QqNMa.jpg" alt="Tabular icebergs float in the Sermilik Fjord after a large calving event at the Helheim glacier near Tasiilaq, Greenland, June 23, 2018. Source: ABC News https://abcnews.go.com/International/watch-billions-tons-ice-collapse-climate-change-impacting/story?id=57972318"></a></p>

<p>(Source and caption: Tabular icebergs float in the Sermilik Fjord after a large calving event at the Helheim glacier near Tasiilaq, Greenland, June 23, 2018. Source: ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/watch-billions-tons-ice-collapse-climate-change-impacting/story?id=57972318" rel="noreferrer">https://abcnews.go.com/International/watch-billions-tons-ice-collapse-climate-change-impacting/story?id=57972318</a>)</p>

<p>Here we see the perspective of the rock walls on both sides preventing the spreading and concentrating the glacier chunks.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-16T12:50:28.147Z
2019-11-16T12:50:28.147Z
marsisalie
<p>These are from the movie <a href="https://g.co/kgs/JhQKWg" rel="noreferrer">Insomnia</a>.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/EdxnZ.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/EdxnZ.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/vuXnI.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/vuXnI.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Also available in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brHA3CF4_Mw&amp;t=4" rel="noreferrer">this</a> video from 4 seconds to 8 seconds. What is the name of this landform? Are these just snow on <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/lapies" rel="noreferrer">Lapies</a>? or These are some form of glaciated landform? </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-16T19:28:22.187Z
This is a scene from the Hollywood remake of Insomnia, not from the original (such a landscape exists in Alaska only fairly far south of the Arctic Circle).
gerrit
<glaciology><groundwater><snow><land-surface>
What is the name of this landform?
Arun S R
# What is the name of this landform?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-11-16)

These are from the movie [Insomnia](https://g.co/kgs/JhQKWg).

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/EdxnZ.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/EdxnZ.png)

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/vuXnI.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/vuXnI.png)

Also available in [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brHA3CF4_Mw&t=4) video from 4 seconds to 8 seconds. What is the name of this landform? Are these just snow on [Lapies](https://www.britannica.com/science/lapies)? or These are some form of glaciated landform?

**Tags:** glaciology, groundwater, snow, land-surface

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This is a scene from the Hollywood remake of Insomnia, not from the original (such a landscape exists in Alaska only fairly far south of the Arctic Circle).  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-11-16. Score: 12 | Accepted answer

This is a large glacier calving event. Calving occur at the front of the glacier, probably a very wet (and likely warm based) glacier where a considerable amount of water is flowing out of the system (thus from the glacier to the sea). The amount of water is important as it can accelerate the ice flow speed on the valley floor, enabling the breaking of big ice chunks along the way. This is what typical calving events looks like: <https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1216/c/images/calving1.gif>

When the glacier ice is moving fast in a valley, and encounter hard rock outcrops on the valley floor followed by sudden drops in topography the ice will break, making it what is known as an ice fall: <https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1216/i/images/icefall1.gif> , or if the topography is moderate, seracs instead <https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1216/s/images/serac1.gif> .

But typical events of normal glacier dynamics as aforementioned does only answer a part of the question. What happened in these picture is that the glacier chunks went seaborne, in a fjord, after a big calving event. The fjord prevent the glacier fragments to spread, forcing these to move along the fjord. This next picture as reported by ABC news show a big calving event that happened in Greenland in 2018, similar to the picture you are showing:

[![Tabular icebergs float in the Sermilik Fjord after a large calving event at the Helheim glacier near Tasiilaq, Greenland, June 23, 2018. Source: ABC News https://abcnews.go.com/International/watch-billions-tons-ice-collapse-climate-change-impacting/story?id=57972318](https://i.sstatic.net/QqNMa.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/QqNMa.jpg)

(Source and caption: Tabular icebergs float in the Sermilik Fjord after a large calving event at the Helheim glacier near Tasiilaq, Greenland, June 23, 2018. Source: ABC News <https://abcnews.go.com/International/watch-billions-tons-ice-collapse-climate-change-impacting/story?id=57972318>)

Here we see the perspective of the rock walls on both sides preventing the spreading and concentrating the glacier chunks.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-11-16. Score: 1

The terrain in the photo is a glacier. There have been a number of incidents since early in World War 2 where aircraft have crashed into or attempted to land on glaciers in the Andes or Greenland, usually with catastrophic results. The aircraft concerned were usually large, multi-engine bombers or airliners. Occasionally there were a few survivors. With improvements in radar, weather forecasting and aircraft, such accidents are much less likely nowadays.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: What’s causing the irregularity and jaggedness of that glacier?  
> **username_2**: Mostly where it snags on rocks below, and sometimes irregularities are caused by melting and meltwater.  
> **username_3**: @ArunRajagopal, the irregularities show up anywhere the ice changes direction or speed, such as going around a corner or over the crest of a hill.  

---

