Advanced English Listening Quiz - Glacier

A glacier is a thick sheet of ice that covers a large area of land. Approximately ten percent of the Earth is covered by glaciers. Most glaciers can be found near the North or South Poles. However, some glaciers can also be seen in the mountains. The Andes Mountains and the Himalayas are a couple to note. Glaciers are formed from snow that has not melted. The weight of the snow will compress and turn into solid sheets of ice. It can take hundreds of years for a large glacier to form. The weight of a glacier can cause it to move downhill slowly if formed on angle. They can move from a few feet in a year to several feet per day. The Bering Glacier in Alaska is the longest glacier in the United States. It measures over 125 miles long. Scientists who study glaciers are called glaciologists.