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  Glacier Caves: How are they Formed?                                            Go back one page  

Behind the glaciologist, a stream of water gushes out from above like a beautiful waterfall. Looking up you see that the stream is more than a hundred metres tall, and the source of all the water seems to be coming straight from the surface of the glacier.
 

"Goodness, no! How could man create such a natural masterpiece? The source of this glacier cave is that stream of water behind me. When ice melts at the surface of a glacier, sometimes it creates a stream or a lake. As it drains down crevasses or moulins, the melted water is warm enough to gradually melt the surrounding ice. This enlarges and expands the crevasses, eventually creating the long tunnels you now see. When water reaches the base of a glacier it also helps lubricate it so they move up to three times faster!"