Ice sheets

large mass of glacier ice

glacier in Greenland

rise of land masses that were depressed by the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period

continental glacier in North America during the last ice age

thumb|The deglaciation of North America after the last ice age. Ka means thousand years ago. Deglaciation is the transition from full glacial conditions during ice ages, to warm interglacials, characterized by global warming and sea level rise due to change in continental ice volume. Thus, it refers to the retreat of a glacier, an ice sheet or frozen surface layer, and the resulting exposure of the Earth's surface. The decline of the cryosphere due to ablation can occur on any scale from global to localized to a particular glacier. After the Last Glacial Maximum (ca. 21,000 years ago), the las

major ice sheet that periodically covered large parts of North America during glacial periods over the last ~2.6 million years

former ice sheet in South America

seismological phenomenon, caused by calving outlet glaciers of continental ice shields

the sinking of large parts of the Earth's crust