Editing Glacier (section)

== Geography ==
{{Further|topic=this topic|List of glaciers}}
[[File:Fox-Gletscher1.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Fox Glacier]] in New Zealand finishes near a rainforest]]
Glaciers are present on every continent and in approximately fifty countries, excluding those (Australia, South Africa) that have glaciers only on distant [[subantarctic]] island territories. Extensive glaciers are found in Antarctica, Argentina, Chile, Canada, Pakistan,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-11 |title=10 Countries With The Most Glaciers |url=https://www.dailyo.in/visualstories/webstories/10-countries-with-the-most-glaciers-48276-11-07-2023 |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=www.dailyo.in |language=en}}</ref> Alaska, Greenland and Iceland. Mountain glaciers are widespread, especially in the [[Andes]], the [[Himalayas]], the [[Rocky Mountains]], the [[Caucasus Mountains|Caucasus]], [[Scandinavian Mountains]], and the [[Alps]]. [[Snezhnika]] glacier in [[Pirin]] Mountain, [[Bulgaria]] with a [[latitude]] of 41°46′09″ N is the southernmost glacial mass in Europe.<ref name="grunewald-129">Grunewald, p. 129.</ref> Mainland Australia currently contains no glaciers, although a small glacier on [[Mount Kosciuszko]] was present in the [[last glacial period]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ga.gov.au/education/facts/landforms/auslform.htm |title=C.D. Ollier: ''Australian Landforms and their History'', National Mapping Fab, Geoscience Australia |publisher=Ga.gov.au |date=2010-11-18 |access-date=2013-01-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080808081441/https://www.ga.gov.au/education/facts/landforms/auslform.htm |archive-date=2008-08-08 }}</ref> In New Guinea, small, rapidly diminishing, glaciers are located on [[Puncak Jaya]].<ref>{{cite conference |first=Joni L. |last=Kincaid |author2=Klein, Andrew G. |url=http://www.easternsnow.org/proceedings/2004/kincaid_and_klein.pdf |title=Retreat of the Irian Jaya Glaciers from 2000 to 2002 as Measured from IKONOS Satellite Images |location=Portland, Maine, USA |pages=147–157 |year=2004 |access-date=2009-01-05 |conference= |archive-date=2017-05-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517095529/http://www.easternsnow.org/proceedings/2004/kincaid_and_klein.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref> Africa has glaciers on [[Mount Kilimanjaro]] in Tanzania, on [[Mount Kenya]], and in the [[Rwenzori Mountains]]. Oceanic islands with glaciers include Iceland, several of the islands off the coast of Norway including [[Svalbard]] and [[Jan Mayen]] to the far north, New Zealand and the subantarctic islands of [[Marion Island|Marion]], [[Heard Island|Heard]], [[Kerguelen Islands#Grande Terre|Grande Terre (Kerguelen)]] and [[Bouvet Island|Bouvet]]. During glacial periods of the Quaternary, [[Taiwan]], [[Hawaii (island)|Hawaii]] on [[Mauna Kea]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geology.com/press-release/hawiian-glaciers/ |title=Hawaiian Glaciers Reveal Clues to Global Climate Change |publisher=Geology.com |date=2007-01-26 |access-date=2013-01-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127143044/http://geology.com/press-release/hawiian-glaciers/ |archive-date=2013-01-27}}</ref> and [[Tenerife]] also had large alpine glaciers, while the [[Faroe Islands|Faroe]] and [[Crozet Islands]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discoverfrance.net/Colonies/Crozet.shtml |title=French Colonies – Crozet Archipelago |publisher=Discoverfrance.net |date=2010-12-09 |access-date=2013-01-04}}</ref> were completely glaciated.

The permanent snow cover necessary for glacier formation is affected by factors such as the degree of slope on the land, amount of snowfall and the winds. Glaciers can be found in all [[latitude]]s except from 20° to 27° north and south of the equator where the presence of the descending limb of the [[Hadley circulation]] lowers precipitation so much that with high [[insolation]] [[snow line]]s reach above {{convert|6500|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}. Between 19˚N and 19˚S, however, precipitation is higher, and the mountains above {{convert|5000|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}} usually have permanent snow.
[[File:Black-Glacier.jpg|thumb|Black ice glacier near [[Aconcagua]], Argentina]]
Even at high latitudes, glacier formation is not inevitable. Areas of the [[Arctic]], such as [[Banks Island]], and the [[McMurdo Dry Valleys]] in Antarctica are considered [[polar desert]]s where glaciers cannot form because they receive little snowfall despite the bitter cold. Cold air, unlike warm air, is unable to transport much water vapor. Even during glacial periods of the [[Quaternary]], [[Manchuria]], lowland [[Siberia]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Collins |first=Henry Hill |title=Europe and the USSR |page=263 |oclc=1573476}}</ref> and [[Alaska Interior|central]] and [[northern Alaska]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beringia.com/centre_info/exhibit.html |title=Yukon Beringia Interpretive Center |publisher=Beringia.com |date=1999-04-12 |access-date=2013-01-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031054552/http://www.beringia.com/centre_info/exhibit.html |archive-date=2012-10-31}}</ref> though extraordinarily cold, had such light snowfall that glaciers could not form.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.eas.slu.edu/People/KChauff/earth_history/4EH-posted.pdf|title=Earth History 2001 |date=July 28, 2017 |page=15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183327/http://www.eas.slu.edu/People/KChauff/earth_history/4EH-posted.pdf |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |access-date=July 28, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/biogeog/SCHM1946.htm |title=On the Zoogeography of the Holarctic Region |publisher=Wku.edu |access-date=2013-01-04 |archive-date=15 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015114943/http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/biogeog/SCHM1946.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In addition to the dry, unglaciated polar regions, some mountains and volcanoes in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina are high ({{convert|4500|to|6900|m|ft|-2|abbr=on|disp=or}}) and cold, but the relative lack of precipitation prevents snow from accumulating into glaciers. This is because these peaks are located near or in the [[hyperarid]] [[Atacama Desert]].