splaying crevasse
Quick Summary
A crevasse is a fissure or crack in a glacier that forms due to stress from the glacier's movement. These cracks can be up to 20 meters wide, 45 meters deep, and several hundred meters long.
Crevasses are categorized by their position and the type of stress that creates them:
* Longitudinal crevasses form in areas of compressive stress.
* Transverse crevasses develop in areas of tensile stress and are curved downstream.
* Marginal crevasses form when the glacier's center moves faster than its edges.
* Bergschrund crevasses are found at the head of a glacier.
Crevasses can be hidden by snow bridges and may close as the glacier moves onto flatter terrain. Splaying crevasses, which run parallel to the flow in the middle of a glacier, are caused by a transverse expansion of the ice flow.12
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