Valley Glacier (Mountain or Alpine Glacier)
U.S. Geological Survey photo by Bruce Molnia (fair use policy)
Confusingly, glaciers in mountainous country may be called valley, mountain or alpine glaciers. The clearest name is valley glacier, because what defines one is that it occupies a valley in the mountains. (It is the mountains that are alpine—that is, jagged and bare due to glaciation.) Valley glaciers are what we typically think of as glaciers: a thick body of solid ice that flows like a very slow river under its own weight. Pictured is Bucher Glacier, an outlet glacier of the Juneau Icefield in southeastern Alaska. The dark stripes on the ice are medial moraines, and the wavelike forms along the center are called ogives.
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Glaciers and Ice
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